Gunslinger
by clood9
Summary: A Hunter crashes into an alternate version of Earth and finds himself embroiled in the chaos of the rapidly destabilizing world post-Overwatch. An old friend returns and with her, the Taken. His Light has to shine true in this new war, but shadows only grow darker the brighter it gets.
1. Crash Landing

**Edit: Revisions of some sentence structure and grammar. If you got a notification about this, there's no need to reread.**

 **Edit 2: Another revision. some complaints have been addressed, so if anything about a parachute in the reviews doesn't make any sense, it's cause I fixed it.**

* * *

" _Mayday, mayday! Guardian Russell Dulk under heavy fire, require immediate assistance!" The Fallen Skiff rammed into Russell's ship, sending it spinning in a million directions. "Ah, fu-" He_ _punched_ _the control panel that politely informed him of a section of the ship that mysteriously went missing._

" _Jingles what broke!?" Russell screamed out loud._

" _Nothing essential! Warp jump in five seconds!" Russell's ghost, Jingles informed him._

" _Do what you need! I'll try to get away from these fucks!" Russell jerked the controls, "Never should have trusted Tess!"_

 _Five seconds was no doubt an eternity when a Skiff was actively firing shit at you. Russell hoped that he could fly well enough to buy them five seconds, but that was unlikely as he heard one of the secondary engines fail on him._

 _Various expletives came out of his mouth as he huddled up to prepare for an emergency evacuation, kicking the control panel that flashed 'Warp Drive Malfunction' in big red letters._

 _There was a blinding light as Russell screamed his lungs out._

/

Russell continued screaming as the Warp jump finished, but that wasn't the end of his problems. The ship was on a downward trajectory to meet the ground, and Russell wasn't entirely sure what he would do about that. He kicked the glass of his ship, cracking it before pulling a red lever that ejected him straight out of his vehicle.

Russell went straight up into the air, before plummeting back down as he freely fell in the nice, cool air.

 _ **"Guardian** **!**_ " Jingles screamed at him through their mental link, throwing Russell out of his daze. He quickly looked down, panicked inside before shaking himself out of it.

He saw his ship go down and witnessed its crash inside a thick arrangement of trees, inside this massive ocean of green—poking a comparative pinhole inside it.

His cloak got caught in a tree and now he was dangling from a big spruce. Great start, Russell thought. He took out his knife and cut out the part that was stuck, causing him to start falling downwards, and into many big branches on the way to ground level.

Russell yelped as he felt something his tailbone whilst falling he collapsed onto the shamrock green grass. It was soft, and the light breeze tickled his armor.

"Hey Jingles, you mind getting me an idea of where we are?" Russel's head fell to its side as he basked in his state of relaxation.

"…I don't know."

"What?"

"Yeah, I said that right, I don't know. I have no maps to pull up. We're in an entirely new planet."

"You gotta be kidding me. Check for any Vanguard frequencies?" Russell stood up, shaking himself of the grass that stuck onto his armor.

"…None, except for some activity on really ancient radio frequencies." Jingles materialized, his shell a midnight blue, like his Guardian's armor. "Let's listen in."

There was an almost silent beep.

"Uh…R-R Teams one-through-three, we're getting reports of a…space ship that crashed in sector A-Seventeen, around your position. Command is suggesting an investigation."

"Roger that Watch-Two, we are on our way."

"That's our queue to get out of here. I'm detecting multiple electronic signatures. Robots, and they're armed. They look hostile." Russell ducked from a bullet that flew by.

"Yeah, they're hostile alright." He replied. Jingles dematerialized whilst Russell patted the holster on his waist, checking for the Ace of Spades. Upon feeling it, he pulled it out and took aim at his aggressors.

His sights set upon a blocky and thicker version of a Vex Goblin that didn't have the top part. It had a single red eye in a cube head that was flashing as its machine gun arm – covered in moss and dirt – continued firing rounds.

A single shot of the Ace of Spades made it spark and fall over. Russell snapped to his side as his radar lit up red. The robot's friend attempted a punch at his face.

"Not a smart idea buddy." The Hunter muttered as sidestepped the punch and grabbed the barrel of its weapon, pushing it upwards whilst using his other hand to stab the thing in the neck.

Another robot went at him, approaching ominously as it fired several bullets into Russell. His shield sustained the impacts, allowing him to throw an explosive knife at the poor thing, making it detonate in an explosion that would most likely start a forest fire. He hoped that that wouldn't be the case.

" _ **Get me Thunderlord.**_ _"_ Russell told his ghost through their mental link.

The Ace of Spades disappeared from his hands as the familiar weight of the massive machine gun was put on his back. Russell reached behind him and readied the electrifying weapon, just as the last few angry robots were shot down.

"Damn." Russell muttered. He looked around himself, spotting various reflections of weapon sights that surrounded him. "Let's not start with a bad impression, hm?" He shouldered Thunderlord, disappearing soon after.

"Alright, I'll raise my hands." Russell did as he promised and raised his hands. "Not like I have the fastest draw on Earth...kidding, kidding!" Nervously chuckling, Russell grimaced under his helmet.

"Alright fine, I'll drop my guns." On cue, Jingles made Thunderlord appear mid-air in front of him, the weapon falling to the ground with a _whoomp_.

"The revolver too." An unidentified voice from Russell's right said, he felt the barrel of a weapon press against his head.

"Alright fine!" The Ace of Spades appeared and promptly fell. "That's it. All I have." Russell said, slightly annoyed now.

"You're coming with us." The man grabbed Russell's wrists and put them in handcuffs. "Got a lot of explaining to do, boy." A blindfold was wrapped around his eyes and tightly bound.

"Nothing personal."

/

The armed men took him to some dry, and cool building, the air being pure and with no discernible smell. Russell could hear people going about their day around him.

"Another captive?" A woman with an accent that was foreign to Russell asked, to the one holding him. "Be gentle."

His captor grunted in response and they kept walking. A left turn was forced, and Russell was sat down on a chair. The blindfold came off, revealing a white, windowless room that had security cameras looking focused on him in the top corners.

In front of him sat a Hispanic man with facial hair that wrapped around his mouth and covered his chin. His head sported a black beanie, fitting his black attire that glowed red at certain areas.

" _Step number one of escaping captivity,_ _don't_ – _and I wanna emphasize_ _– d_ _on't_ _piss your captor off. In the unlikely chance a Hunter gets captured, their captors will most likely not be very tolerant of smart-assery. Just stay quiet, stare them all boring style and answer in short sentences."_ Russell followed Cayde's advice, keeping a neutral face under the helmet as he kept constant eye contact with his captor.

The man seemed to be aware of the contact as his posture shifted forward, moving his elbow onto the table.

"You know what to do. Talk." The man's voice was gruff and sounded like he smoked cigarettes every minute, though his breath told otherwise. "Let's start with how you got here."

"Well..." Russell bit his tongue. He had to think of a cover story, and quick.

"Go on."

"I found this ship abandoned in some defunct hangar…had all these 'no trespassing' signs but I still went in, almost got crushed by a steel beam." Russell paused. "Took this baby out, called my friends for parts and got it fixed up."

"And would you know _who_ your friends are?"

"Uhh…they're a bunch of…shady folk, uh...they somehow find all this advanced stuff, I don't know how, um…" Russell paused once more. "They mentioned working with some other guys…"

"Talon?"

"Yeah! Yeah, them. Talon…that's a cool name." The man grimaced upon hearing that. "Stupid decision of me, ponying up all that money and not even testing it, you saw how big that explosion was?"

The man's brows furrowed, and he was about to say something until he was rudely interrupted by whoever was talking in his earpiece. "What? Alright, I'm on my way. Send a couple of dispatch teams." He turned around and headed for the door.

"You stay here." He firmly said as the door slid open, then closed behind him.

Russell struggled in his handcuffs.

" _Step two, now only do this step if your captor's left or if your guard is not paying attention, or else you'll get blasted in the face. Get outta any restrictions. Thankfully, your Ghost should be able to cut any type of electronic lock, and as far as I know, none of the bad guys use rope, you should be fine for this step."_

" _ **Jingles, you mind?**_ " Jingles materialized behind him and floated around the cuffs, shooting some light beams at it. The handcuffs unlocked with a clink and Russell promptly shook them off. He stood up, stretched his arms and legs, massaged his wrists and cracked his neck. " _ **Thanks, buddy.**_ "

" _ **Now, you have any idea where my guns are?**_ "

" _ **I hacked their security system and it shouldn't be too far from here. Though you might want to be quiet, there are still people lurking around-**_ " Jingles was interrupted as an explosion and ensuing gunfire erupted from above. " _ **Never mind. They're scramming now.**_ "

Jingles hacked the door open and Russell stepped out.

" _Step three of escaping captivity, find your guns! Most likely they've been taken from you, so take them back."_

"Alright, show me the way old friend." Russell chuckled. "I could help out with whatever's happening up there, should I?"

There was an audible interpretation of a shoulder shrug.

A marker appeared on his HUD, pointing him to his weapons.

. . .

Russell felt the grip of the Ace of Spades on his gloved hand as he put it into his holster. Thunderlord dematerialized as Jingles stashed it into his inventory.

"So, what do you say, help out upstairs or wait?" Russell asked out loud. Jingles materialized and floated around his head. The ghost's body nodded. "That's settled then. You wanna stay out here or you want to stay invisible?"

Jingles swiftly disappeared.

Russell made his way towards a staircase. The ground shook. He slowly stepped upwards, making sure to have a tight grip on the handrails. The door that led to the outside world was blown inwards, on a collision course to Russell's head. He dodged the projectile and stood at the doorway, looking towards the outside world.

" _ **We better move, seems like the action's getting intense.**_ " Jingles said, hidden from sight.

" _ **Great.**_ "

Sunlight broke through acrid and thick smoke, shining some much-needed rays onto Russell. He stepped outside, covering his eyes as the sun was shining straight into them. Upon lowering his arm, a warzone revealed itself. On one side were those robots shooting at the other side, which consisted of soldiers in gear similar to Last City marines as they ducked under cover and returned fire.

Russell, unholstering the Ace of Spades, dove into the action. His first move consisted of throwing an Incendiary Grenade towards a group of androids as he slid under one, firing a few shots into its underside as he passed by. He pushed himself up and gored another in a quick motion, using the robot's corpse to shield him from oncoming fire then hurling it towards another one of its buddies. The throw knocked threw two robots to the side. The distinct 'clank' sound of the Ace of Spades rang as Russell put a few more rounds into more enemies, advancing deeper into the mass of automatons.

Russell primed a throwing knife's explosive embedded in its holster then pushed the pointy bit into the neck of a robot, causing it and everything in its immediate radius to blow up. A robot that went unnoticed attempted to hit him from behind but a burst from an old-school plasma weapon put it down, the smoldering corpse collapsing behind him. Russell turned around to see a blonde man with a blue visor over one eye and a rifle in his hands do a quick nod before going to fight more of these machines. Russell returned with a quick finger salute then went back to massacring his enemies.

" _ **Prep Thunderlord, and map the area for me if you can.**_ " Russell told his Ghost.

" _ **Gotcha.**_ " The Ace of Spades disappeared and in its place was Thunderlord, the black and blue electric machine gun of legends. Russell only had a magazine's worth of ammunition, but that should suffice to eliminate the remainders of the robots.

He let the machine gun sing its charged song as lightning rained from above upon every kill. The weapon tore through the leftovers of the enemy forces. In a practiced movement, he smacked an android with the butt of his weapon and punctured it with his knife whilst it was recovering. These were one of the last robots, as indicated by the dying levels of gunfire in the area.

Which meant that the other guys would have a line of sight on him once the grey smoke that permeated the area dissipated.

Taking note of the direction that the human soldiers were, Russell ran the opposite way, while Jingles filled him in on his situation.

" _ **So…we're on Earth.**_ " Jingles stated.

" _ **Great, directions to the Tower?**_ "

" _ **I would…if there was a Tower. There's no mention of a 'Tower' here.**_ " Russell took a turn into the abandoned husk of a fancy hotel building to catch his breath. " _ **We're not in the same version of Earth we know. I'll give you a second to take that in.**_ "

The revelation was a bit heavy. Russell wasn't distressed, but confused. How exactly did that warp bring him here exactly? Did the Fallen follow him? He collapsed onto his butt behind a pillar, panting as the adrenaline of the fight wore off and the out-of-breath state kicked in.

" _ **We're in…Germany.**_ " Russell furrowed his brows. Germany was a country predating the Golden Age—and the concept of countries fell out of fashion a long while ago. He wondered why far back in time he went. " _ **And those robots we fought earlier, they're called Omnics.**_ "

"Good to know." Russell reloaded the Ace of Spades as he heard numerous sets of footsteps pass by on the street the hotel was on.

" _ **And the guys chasing you are part of an organization called Overwatch. They're like the Guardians of this Earth.**_ "

A single pair of footfalls came into the apartment building. They were light and quick, which told quite a bit on the type of person this one was.

"Now…he could've gone in here…or here?" The pursuer mused to herself—her voice feminine and high-pitched, of an accent that Russell had never heard before. The steps slowed down as his pursuer presumably was looking around in the lobby.

Russell peeked around the pillar he stood behind. A thin, brunette woman with hair that went straight to one side, wearing a blue cadet cap and visor glasses. On her chest was a round glowing device that glowed a bright blue, complimenting her entire getup. She occasionally blinked a few feet forward – akin to a Warlock – as she searched the lobby, leaving no corner unsearched.

" _ **No way I'm outrunning that woman.**_ " He said through his mental link, mostly speaking to himself.

" _ **I have an idea…**_ " Russell took out an explosive knife and threw it at a wall near the entrance. It exploded, and the woman looked towards it as Russell made a dash towards the staircase that led to the second floor of the building. He let out a shot of the Ace of Spades in her general direction as he entered a hallway that led into the rooms.

"I'm on him! Send backup!" The woman screamed into her radio as she gave chase.

Russell dove into an elevator and mashed the button that he assumed led to the top floor. He kept a smug grin on his face under his mask while he mockingly saluted as the door closed on his pursuer.

His smug grin disappeared as he realized he hadn't really thought out his plan very well. The woman would just take the stairs and outrun the elevator.

Another idea popped into his head. He pressed the emergency stop button, pried open the hatch above him and kicked the doors that led into whatever floor he landed on.

When he stepped into the hallway, the woman was waiting for him.

"Not a bright one, are ya?" She quipped before sidestepping with her teleportation ability as Russell sent a punch straight towards her jugular. She then grabbed the arm that he punched with, attempted to twist it, but the gauntlets proved too strong. Russell pulled her towards him and threw her over his shoulder and sent her tumbling to the floor. She quickly caught herself and zipped her way towards Russell, hitting his helmet with the bottom of her pistol.

Russell took the hit and followed up with a side swipe to her hip, knocking her to the side then stricking her with his fist, knocking the woman down. She landed with an _oomph_ but quickly got herself back in the fight.

"I really don't want to break your arms, woman." Russell said as he readied his fists.

"Not a chance, luv! I'd knock ya down pretty quickly!" She blinked towards him and attempted a sweeping kick on Russell's legs. He responded by pushing back, his opponent blinking backwards before she could trip. She blinked forward, then to the side and went for two quick punches to the side of Russell's head, retreating right after. She did this a few more times, varying her attacks and where they landed, and Russell got a bit frustrated.

"Alright, that's enough. Jingles!" The Ace of Spades appeared in Russell's hand as he pointed it straight at his attacker. "Look, I'm not a bad guy, don't mind the gun. Just let me go and we'll both be cool with each other. That sound good?"

"Don't think so." A manly, deep voice said from behind him. "You're coming with us."

Russell really wanted to pull out his Golden Gun at that moment.

" _ **I think it would be a better idea if you surrendered. Not worth the trouble running from these guys.**_ " Jingles said. " _ **At least until we find a way out of here.**_ _"_

" _ **Fine.**_ " Russell replied.

"Throw the gun down." The man behind him instructed. Russell obeyed and gently put down the Ace of Spades, raising his hands afterward. "We're not going to hurt you."

A familiar set of handcuffs locked itself onto Russell's hands.

/

 _A few hours later…_

On the way to his interrogation room, Russell's helmet dematerialized, revealing his sharp features on pale white skin that hadn't seen the sun in a while. He was mostly clean on the face except for a scar on his left cheek. His eyes were a dull shade of grey that flicked around frequently, observing every minute detail of his surroundings. He kept a distant stare whilst being escorted.

He was sat down at the same white table, except a different man was on the other side. Plus a blonde woman in a white lab coat that held a clipboard and a pen in the corner.

"We should start with introductions." The blonde-haired man started. "My name is Jack Morrison, commander of Overwatch, although I'm pretty sure you're aware of that, right?"

"Uh…yeah." Russell replied, not having a damn clue on who this guy was. "Russell Dulk. Hunter."

"Hunter, you say?" Jack Morrison inquired. "What do you hunt? Doesn't look like you're chasing after animals with that equipment."

"Mostly Omnics. Occasionally some bad people." Russell replied, keeping eye contact with his interrogator. He noticed the man shift defensively.

"You do know that that is our job, right?" Morrison asked. "Dangerous for you to fight alone."

"Of course it is, that's why I do it." Russell said.

Morrison cleared his throat.

"My…colleague, Reyes, says that you have been acquiring parts from Talon." The man said. "To repair your ship? And might I add, what is this ship for?"

"Uh…yeah, Talon. They sold me the engine for my ship, I did the rest. It's for…travelling." Russell replied.

Jack Morrison looked a bit concerned as he took in what was said. "Do you know the contact who sold you this?"

"Uh…guy by the name of The Drifter." Russell hoped the lie would stick long enough so he could figure out what to do next.

"Do you have any physical descriptions of him?" The commander asked.

"Er…wears a bandanna, beard, and mustache, looks grizzled. Has this jade dog tag around his neck most of the time."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, haven't heard from the guy in a while. Heard he runs something called the _Gambi…_ "

" _ **You should stop right there before you dig yourself a deeper grave.**_ " Jingles chimed in mentally.

"Sorry, what was that?" Morrison asked.

"Gambit. He runs something called Gambit."

"Do you know what happens in Gambit?"

"Nope."

"Very well. The information is appreciated, now, I have a proposition for you." Morrison shifted his posture, straightening his back and appearing more formal.

Russell was about to raise an objection, but Jingles told him to shut up and listen first.

"I know you don't trust me, or anyone here." The commander of Overwatch began. "And your entrance is…jarring, to say the least. Your armor, weapons and everything about you I have never seen before."

Russell's eyes narrowed. "I'm not from around here." His tone turned cold, he noticed the intimidation from the blond-haired commander.

Morrison frowned. "A private person I take it?"

"Not normally, but you said it perfectly, I don't trust you." Russell answered, showing as little respect as he could in his tone.

The woman in the corner scowled and wrote some more on her clipboard.

"I'll keep it simple. You look like someone fit for Overwatch, and I offer you a chance to join the strike team."

"What for?" Russell asked. "How would this help me in any way, shape or form?"

"Easy, you could either join us, and have your life be exponentially easier..." Morrison said. "Or, you could try your chances at an attorney and deal with the local government about your _trespassing and destruction of a national nature reserve._ "

"However, this is your choice. The door is there."

"I strongly recommend that you join. It will be a life-changing experience." The woman in the corner interjected, her tone polite and neutral.

Russell had the urge to be a smartass and wanted to laugh at the fact that the commander thought he would be arrested by a local police force. Decisions, decisions.

" _ **I think you should take him up on his offer.**_ " Jingles spoke up suddenly, invisible to the naked eye. " _ **You did pledge to protect all humans.**_ "

" _ **Would that apply to people here? Shouldn't I be trying to find a way home?**_ "

" _ **True, but it'll probably be a while before we figure that out**_ _ **—might as well do our best in another world. Besides, we can try and haggle them to fix our ship.**_ "

" _ **Fine.**_ "

"Fine." Russell repeated his thoughts.

"Excellent, I'll get the paperwork done, although you'll have to be kept under supervision for a week at headquarters." Jack Morrison stood up, smiled and extended his hand.

Russell smiled back out of politeness' sake and shook the hand offered to him.

/

Angela Ziegler sighed as Jack and the new one; Russell, left the room. She wrote down her last notes before heading out towards Ana, who was watching the entire interrogation from an adjacent room.

"What do you think of him?" Ana asked, turning to Angela who sat down on one of the chairs inside the surveillance room. "He seems sharp."

Angela only sighed as she passed her notes to Ana. "He's hiding something. I know it." Something was…off about this man. Yes, she witnessed his prowess in the battlefield, but his callous and rude demeanor towards the commander set off alarms in her head. She was wondering if they just recruited a rebellious teenager in the body of a twenty-something man, and that was _everything_ she didn't need on top of her usual workload.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," Angela commented. Ana scanned the jotted down notes. "That man will either be our savior or our downfall."

"What makes you think that?" The Egyptian woman asked.

"I have a hunch that something's wrong. He's _far_ too talented in combat for someone at his age, and that's after seeing Genji and Lena." Angela said sternly. "How would we keep him on our side? He admitted that he interacted with Talon before. Have you heard of The Drifter?"

"Hm…I haven't, and our database makes no mention of such a person. We would have to investigate deeper. This man might have some dangerous ties." Ana remarked worriedly as she put down Angela's clipboard.

"I hope Jack has the right idea."

"We all do."

/

 _The next hour…_

Russell was a bit sad when his transport truck passed by his broken-down ship that was being picked up and towed somewhere. The ship was his home for most of his life, and now he would have to live in some posh apartment on the campus of Overwatch's headquarters.

The fact that he had to give the Ace of Spades and Thunderlord to some guy who would most likely mistreat them made him feel worse.

Maybe he was being a bit too sentimental. The Hunter sighed as he sat down and looked at the dark interior of the transport vehicle.

A _Wing Contender_ helmet materialized on his head. The bumping ceased as the truck went onto actual roads instead of dirt. That comforted him a bit, not having to worry about banging his head on the roof of this god-forsaken vehicle.

" _ **Ready to save the world?**_ " Jingles quipped, invisible.

" _ **I will seriously throw you out this truck if you don't shut up."**_ Russell replied. " _ **And you better hope they have a way to fix my warp drive.**_ "

" _ **Oh yeah, I know they do. Ask Winston, their lead scientist.**_ "

" _ **Duly noted.**_ "

" _ **You know they have gorilla scientists in this place?**_ "

" _ **Really?**_ "

" _ **And Winston is their gorilla scientist.**_ "

" _ **No way.**_ "

The Ghost made a positive chirp. Russell decided to let it go and try and get as much sleep as possible.

/

 _Lore book unlocked: Russell Dulk, a s_ _ _tudent of_ Cayde-6  
_

 _Entry 1: Initial thoughts_

 _So, I first noticed Russell when he kept on coming into the hangar and eating his lunch there. I was fine with it, what sparked my interest was when Ikora mentioned that he had been doing that for nearly three months, and I did notice that he acted a bit weird when I looked his way. Alright, a bit eerie, but hey, fans are fans. So, we both co-existed, more like acknowledged each other's existence. Then I had a great idea: What if I took him as a student? I mean, what could go wrong? Who said that I, the magnificent Cayde-Six, can't be a mentor? Ikora's been doing it for years now, how hard can it be? So, I went up and talked to him and he was all shocked and amazed, was practically on his knees and crying tears of joy about the fact that I, the legendary Hunter Vanguard Cayde-Six, came up to talk to him._

 _Okay, slight exaggeration, but still, he was surprised. I asked him if he was interested in being tutored and he was all game. I took him under my wing and…_

 _It didn't go so well for the first week...or two, maybe three but that's pushing it. Let's just settle on four.  
_

 _How in the world does Ikora do this whole tutoring thing?_

/

The armed guards decided to take Russell to their headquarters through the front, which made them go through a vast courtyard sprawling with life as men, women, and children wandered about, living their daily lives.

A particularly young child took notice of Russell.

"Is that one of the bad guys that Overwatch catch?" He heard the girl ask her parent. An innocent question, although it made Russell's eyes roll.

"I don't know honey, but we should let the guards do their business." The parent quickly pulled the kid away, despite her curiosity. She was still looking at Russell as she was dragged away.

He returned the stare with a quick nod and tried to move his hands to do a quick salute but forgot his arms were bound, which made him look like he was trying to shake off his handcuffs.

"Come on buddy, keep moving." The guard told him as he was shoved along.

They eventually passed through a magnificent front door that was as wide as it was beautiful. Two marble pillars were on each side of the entrance. Upon entering, the lobby was massive, with a giant logo of this Overwatch organization emblazoned on the wall.

" _ **Fancy place, huh? Cayde would be rolling his eyes so hard right now.**_ " Jingles quipped.

" _ **Yeah, not too fond of it."**_

" _ **Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.**_ "

" _ **Right…**_ "

The guards led him to a plain white room with various medical equipment where a doctor was waiting for him with a tablet.

"Russell Dulk." The doctor began, his voice smooth and warm. "Good to meet you." The man flashed a smile as he looked towards Russell.

"Likewise," Russell replied, rubbing his wrists as the handcuffs were taken off. "So…this a health assessment or something?"

"You got that right. Don't worry, it'll be quick and then you can go to your assigned room and relax for the rest of the day."

. . .

" _ **Is it really that big of a surprise that you're in tip-top shape?**_ " Jingles asked. " ** _It would've been a stupid idea to not revive you at your_ _peak._** _"_

" _ **Not really, but with how I've been treating myself lately, I thought something would change.**_ " Russell replied.

He walked up to his dorm room, in front of the door was a half-robot-half-human person gazing at him with sharp eyes. There was a sword on the man's back, and the right side of his chest had a circle cut-out that glowed orange. A visor akin to a hockey mask except without the top looked to have been welded on the man's face. His eyes looked at him like a hawk as they scanned him up to down.

"Genji Shimada." The cyborg man said, his words short and polite. "Don't cause trouble and we will get along well."

"Sounds about right. Russell Dulk." Russell extended his hand. Genji shook it begrudgingly. "Security guard for the week?"

" _ **He doesn't seem very happy.**_ " Jingles stated offhandedly.

" _ **I can tell.**_ "

"Yes. You could say that."

Genji stepped aside and let Russell into his room.

" _ **Man that guy really doesn't like me for some reason.**_ "

/

"The directives are simple." Jack Morrison stated over the intercom. "The enemy targets will attack you. Kill them. Take as little damage as possible while taking out as many of them as you can. Move to the biome that is indicated. Good luck."

Russell stepped into the training arena. Decently sized, it was an arena that was separated into four 'biomes': Jungle, Desert, Urban, and Plains. Cover was distributed evenly and was in the styles of their respective environments. Overlooking everything was a massive screen that prominently displayed a countdown.

" **THREE. TWO. ONE.** " Russell pulled out the Ace of Spades as the floodgate opened for him. " **GO. JUNGLE."**

He headed for the jungle section of the arena. Here there was tons of natural cover, inundated in moss and rain forest trees, the enemies were hard to identify – at least to the normal eye – as they were camouflaged. Russell didn't have a normal eye, he had a Hunter's eye, which meant that he would see things a normal person wouldn't notice.

Jingles would also call out some enemies he didn't notice at first which was helpful.

Russell fired his first shot as an Omnic Bastion peeked from its cover, its head being torn off by the bullt. He rolled into cover as bullets flew around him, the source of which were more Omnics. Lobbing a grenade over his shoulder, Russell quickly changed positions as a pair of Omnics were sent flying and set on fire by the Incendiary Grenade. Russell peeked out once more and scanned the area.

" _ **Behind you!**_ " Jingles called out. Russell quickly turned around and sidestepped the Omnic's downward smash, rolling out the way as he fired two shots of the Ace of Spades into it.

He kept in mind that he had ten rounds left.

" **DESERT.** " The female announcer voice said.

Russell scrambled towards the desert area of the arena. It was sparsely littered with broken down cars and oil barrels and had a more open feel than the previous sector. At the center of the area was a big Omnic. It stood on four legs and had two arms and one head, looking like a horse. On one arm was a cannon of some sort while on the other was a blade made of energy. Two sets of machine gun barrels – a total of four – sat on the sides of the Omnic's head as its four eyes blinked red.

" _ **Golden Gun's ready.**_ " Jingles reminded him.

Russell let off a few shots from the Ace of Spades into the giant machine before activating Golden Gun. He reached into the air with his palm cupped, as if he were holding an invisible hand cannon. Flames erupted from within as a hand cannon formed in his hand. As soon as he could bring it to eye-level, he shot flaming bullets full of Solar Light that disintegrated whoever or whatever was unfortunate enough to be in its way.

A bullet hit the Omnic's machine gun arm, completely ripping it off. Another hit the energy weapon arm—this time it sparked and exploded. Two more bullets tore off the front two legs of the enemy. The last two bullets landed inside the head, tearing the part off along with its mechanical spine. The robotic beast sparked and exploded as it fell with a dying beep, having succumbed to the Light.

Russell looked proudly at his handiwork, nodding in satisfaction.

" **URBAN.** "

He better get going.

/

"Impressive." Jack Morrison muttered as he watched Russell take down the larger-than-normal OR-14 Unit that gave nearly every member of the strike team who tried it trouble.

"Put it straight down!" Lena exclaimed as she bounced with excitement.

Torbjörn muttered something in his usual angry voice and took down some notes.

"His abilities are unnatural," Angela commented. "Although, I am not one to comment on the unnatural."

"He's fit for Blackwatch, that's for sure," Reyes said, his eyes observing Russell with an eagle's eye. "Would be a great asset."

"Not so fast Gabriel," Jack replied. "He aims like a seasoned veteran yet acts like a child. I think he'd be a better fit for the strike team. The public would love him."

Gabriel grumbled a bit. Russell had just put down several humanoid Omnics without breaking a sweat, weaving in and out of buildings like he was born to fight in them. "Look at his urban prowess. Didn't even leave a single trace he was there."

"Other than the bodies." Ana quipped. "Blackwatch tend to do that."

Gabriel shot her a quick glare before returning his attention to the screen.

Morrison grimaced as Russell threw one of his fire grenades into the grass of the Plains area, burning down everything around it as the man gunned down the Omnics that hid inside. "That's something he definitely as to work on."

"We seem to have found quite a skilled soldier, a diamond in the rough as you Americans call it." Angela said as she narrowed her eyes when Russell waved at the camera. "We are extremely lucky that Talon hadn't found him first."

"Not to mention…I'm havin' a bit of doubts 'bout his story." Lena added. "I mean, he's sayin' that Talon have a guy _smarter_ than Winston and that they just gave tech that's hundreds of years ahead of us to him? Don't really believe it."

"And he just appears one day, without _any_ of us knowing about him prior." Ana compounded. "There are…doubts to be had with his origins but…"

"But what? We confront him about it?" Morrison butted in.

"No, he would gun us all down."

"We'll have to talk about it eventually, but for now, feign ignorance." Jack finished. The door to their room opened, revealing Russell who had a burnt smell to him.

. . .

"You've held extremely well in the Initiation," Ana said, scanning Russell top-to-bottom. "You've demonstrated incredible skill in combat and abilities that are quite…unique." She paused. "Now, unfortunately, and I'll put it bluntly, we don't know what to do with a man of your caliber. However, we do know someone who can certainly put your potential to full use." The woman turned to Gabriel Reyes. "And that man right here, is Gabriel Reyes."

"Sounds good, commander? Can I call you that yet?" Russell tilted his head, looking towards Reyes who stared him down with vulture eyes. "Did I skip a step or…?"

"We'll just say that you took the offer," Reyes said, standing up and extending his hand towards Russell.

" _Welcome to Blackwatch."_

* * *

 **Been playing a bunch of Destiny 2 lately. Had a kick to make this. Will work on the other stories, don't worry.**

 **Edit: If I abused the dash too much, let me know. I just found out about it.**


	2. Shadow

**Edit: Revisions to grammar and sentence structure. No need to reread if you've already read.**

 **Edit 2: Fixed awkward writing, varied some words, made it a lot less repetitive and addressed some concerns about parachutes.**

* * *

 _One week after crash landing, Overwatch Sparring Grounds  
_

Russell sidestepped a hit towards his face by Tracer. The woman was fast, very much so. However her movements were predictable and always seemed to favor fanciness instead of efficiency. He tackled her as she was preparing to jump, pinning her down under his weight.

Tracer blinked away from underneath him, quickly taking the upper hand as she pressed her dual pistols against the back of Russell's head. He didn't take this lightly, twirling his body with enough force to throw her off, sending her tumbling to the side.

Tracer quickly stood back up and blinked towards Russell, her fists up. He parried her first punch—but on her second attempt she threw it and blinked mid-way so he wasn't able to block in time. She was able to land several strikes on him with this method, but all it took was a firm grip on her wrist and now the games were over. He tightened his hold as Tracer tried to blinked away then grabbed her neck with his other hand and lifted her up—slamming her to the ground behind him.

" _ **Nice.**_ " Jingles commented.

Tracer looked like she still had some energy in her left but was fiddling with the device on her chest, calling a timeout.

"Ah, bloody hell!" She grumbled as her fingers tweaked and patted over the apparatus. "Yeah, thing's fucked."

Russell scratched the back of his forehead. "Oh…uh, sorry." He sheepishly said.

"Oh, not your fault!" Tracer smiled at him before steadily standing up. "Besides, Winston can get this up and running in a jiffy!"

"Well, see ya!" She did a short wave before hopping over the ring boundaries.

" _ **Nice one there, oh honorable Guardian.**_ " Jingles snarked.

" _ **You're god damn lucky I can't** **see you** **right now.**_ " Russell snapped back. He hopped over the ring, towards the showers. On the way there he was stopped by his new commander, Gabriel Reyes.

"Once you're done your shower, meet me at the briefing room." The man briefly said before letting go of Russell's shoulder.

" _ **Wonder if it's our first mission.**_ " Russell thought as he entered a shower cubicle and got undressed.

" _ **Probably is, hopefully it isn't something boring.**_ "

/

 _Half an hour later…_

Shower done, mind refreshed, it was go time. Russell's armor rematerialized on him as he exited the shower room. A waypoint to the briefing room was placed on his HUD.

" _ **You map out the place yet? Every nook and cranny?**_ " Russell asked.

" _ **Yep! Even the secret underground lab!**_ "

" _ **Underground lab?**_ "

" _ **Long story. I also compiled some short documents of the history of this world, Overwatch, Omnics, you name it. Let me know if you want to bring it up.**_ " Jingles said, with a tinge of proudness in his voice.

" _ **I'll look at it in my down time,**_ " Russell replied.

The door to the briefing room opened, and Russell's helmet dematerialized as he entered. At the other side of the massive planning table littered with tablets and holograms were Gabriel Reyes and Angela Ziegler. The latter looking at him sharply, with a hint of suspicion.

"Agent Dulk." Reyes acknowledged his presence.

"Sir," Russell nodded in reply and stood at the side of the table opposite from the two others.

"Nervous?" Gabriel cracked a small smile.

"Not really," Russell replied. "Not my first time doing this sort of stuff."

"Good." The commander nodded and a hologram appeared in front of Russell. "Your mission is to accompany madam Ziegler here and provide protection versus any terrorist and/or Omnic activity."

"Understood sir, how am I supposed to approach this mission?" Russell scrolled down the details of the operation.

"You are to not be seen by the public. Eliminate any potential threats with _extreme prejudice._ "

"Roger that. Any additional details I should be aware of?"

"There will be civilians in the area, so watch your fire."

" _ **That was kinda implied but okay.**_ " Jingles mused.

"Deployment will be at oh-nine-hundred, be there on time. You are dismissed."

Russell nodded before turning towards the door and walking out of the room.

/

"Punctual, I like it." Gabriel commented as the door closed behind Russell. "No frills kind of soldier."

Angela really didn't like this man, but she had to agree. "I still think he's hiding something, I can see right through him."

"I'll make sure to pay more attention to him." Reyes shrugged as Angela frowned.

"I don't think you understand my concern." Angela said, turning towards Gabriel. "I don't think he's following us because he has to. He can overpower any one of us, and he knows it. There's something keeping him from using his powers against Overwatch."

"Honor, maybe? A good guy at heart?" Reyes chuckled.

"If that's the case, I wonder why he would choose Blackwatch?" Gabriel grimaced at the remark. "We both know the tendencies your agents tend to have under your command."

The man grumbled for a bit. "We'll discuss this later."

Angela sighed, shutting her eyes for a second, then turned towards the briefing room door.

"Be careful out there," Gabriel called out before she left.

/

The airship had departed around half an hour ago. They were expected to arrive at Cape Town, South Africa in another 30 minutes.

There was an MRSA outbreak at the location and Overwatch pledged to assist, sending Doctor Ziegler—better known as Mercy. Also stored inside the ship were containers with what Jingles identified as vaccines, food, and field base deployment equipment. The crates were guarded by a few foot soldiers that walked around aimlessly, talking to each other about whatever was trending right now.

Russell slumped forward in his seat, tapping his knees.

"Sit up straight, that posture is bad for your spine." Doctor Ziegler remarked from a few feet away, sat at another spot. Russell immediately put his back straight. Her stern voice scared him a bit.

" _ **Her voice kinda scares me too.**_ " Jingles said.

" _ **I swear to the Traveler that you will not exist by the end of this ride.**_ "

" _ **Uh, I'm seeing some bogeys on the ground! Tell the pilot, they can't see them from here!**_ " Russell jumped from his seat and dashed straight to the pilot's cab, breaking the lock that kept the door shut.

"Yo what the hell-" The co-pilot frantically turned around as the door broke.

"Foot soldiers on the ground, they're carrying rockets and have a lock on you guys." Russell interrupted, his tone grave and serious. "In fact, there are some headed for us right now."

"They can't even see us from here-"

"Trust me." His tone went cold.

"Okay, okay, jeez." The pilot replied before flicking a few switches and grabbing the microphone for the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are performing evasion tactics right now and-holy shit!"

A rocket flew past the windscreen of the airship. "Evasive measures! Make sure the supplies are secure!" The pilot screamed as he steered the ship to the side.

Russell kept his ground as the men behind him tumbled from the sudden turn. "I'll get down there and deal with them. Stay in the air, I'll link up with you guys later."

"You're crazy!" The co-pilot remarked.

"I'll see you guys later!"

Russell left the cabin room and pressed a red button on the way out.

"Where are you going?" Angela practically screamed.

"I'm gonna deal with these fucks shooting at us," Russell said as he twirled the Ace of Spades in his right hand before putting it in its holster. "I'll RV with you guys later."

"You're crazy!" Angela said.

"Co-pilot said that, See you on the other side!" Russell did a finger salute as he turned to the now open back of the ship. He took a few big steps and leaped out, freefalling in the air.

Bullets and rockets whizzed past him as he dove down, they must have seen him jump.

The area was mostly agriculture and broken buildings, with a few concrete shacks that peppered the area. The enemies were gathered around there, and present was a big container.

" _ **Get ready for a rough landing.**_ " Jingles said.

Once he got low enough, he used a double jump to break his fall.

Russell spun the Ace of Spades in his right hand as he took it out.

Enemy soldiers were quickly amassing around him, their black uniforms matching their assault rifles that were all pointed in his direction.

"I'll be nice and let you guys put your guns down, deal?" Russell quipped as he looked around, assessing the number of surrounding enemies: He counted ten.

"Haha real-" One of the terrorists was interrupted as Russell shot him, then proceeded to get off another shot at another—both falling unceremoniously as they died.

By now, they all started shooting at him.

Russell charged one of the eight soldiers that remained, knocking him or her over as their head was crushed with a single stomp of a boot.

Seven.

Bullets flew everywhere and haphazardly landed on Russell, his shield taking the impacts. The Hunter jumped into the air, propelling himself twice to get higher elevation as he pulled out an Incendiary Grenade, throwing it down to the closest enemy. The explosive detonated in a flash of fire that quickly faded and burnt the ground surrounding it.

Collateral damage wasn't preferable, but cabbages could be regrown. Russell quickly turned as he heard an enemy try to grab his leg from behind, punching the soldier in the chest and sending them straight into the dirt. He hoped that one died instantly, cause that looked like it hurt.

Russell turned his attention to the remaining five enemies. The Ace of Spades sang its mechanical song, ending the life of another terrorist. Another round landed in another terrorist's throat, making it spray blood like a geyser.

The last three were all shaking, obviously afraid. The barrels of their assault rifles were all over the place. Russell pointed the Ace of Spades at the one in the middle.

"Put the guns down," Russell ordered, his voice full of ice.

They did as he told and threw the weapons down, Russell kicking them away afterwards. "On your knees, hands behind your head, looking down." His prisoners obeyed.

He pressed on his earpiece. "Command, I have a few prisoners-" Russell was rudely interrupted by chatter coming from one of the three men's radios. He shot the device, the bullet going through it and into his shoulder.

"Like I was saying—I have a few prisoners here." He kept a close eye on the one that was wounded.

" _Interrogate then eliminate, leave no witnesses._ "

" _ **Damn I don't like that idea,**_ " Russell said to Jingles.

" _ **Just make him think you killed them**_."

"Roger that." Russell kneeled, facing the two that weren't injured. "So, you mind telling me who you're workin' for?"

"T-Talon! Talon just let us go! We promise we won't ever get into thi-" Russell thumbed the hammer of the Ace of Spades, which was enough to make the guy shut up.

"I didn't ask if you had any regrets." He muttered, holstering his hand cannon. That seemed to ease his prisoners a bit, except for the guy who was still screaming curses about his wound. "Does anyone know how to shut him up? There a medic around here?"

"It's-It's the guy you pummeled to the ground." A prisoner said, pointing towards the terrorist who was knocked out inside a small hole. Russell walked up to the unconscious man, patted him down and pulled out what seemed to be a med kit. He tossed it towards his prisoners, who took out a syringe and jabbed it into their injured friend.

Russell took out the Ace of Spades. "You guys might not want to look this way." He said before firing three shots.

The prisoners flinched every time there was a _clang_.

"Run, get outta here, and if I see you guys anywhere near Talon again..." Russell paused. "It won't be pretty." He turned away in the direction of the other groups of Talon soldiers.

" _ **Chaotic good?**_ " Jingles quipped.

" _ **W** **ouldn't it be more lawful good cause they were terrorists?**_ "

. . .

Russell hijacked an unmarked truck that was most likely Talon's and was headed towards Cape Town. The dirt roads eventually lead to a highway that Jingles told him was a path to the capital of South Africa.

Upon seeing the first checkpoint, he slowed down and stopped next to one of the guards wearing a yellow hazmat suit and a gas mask. The guard was also equipped with an assault rifle. They gestured for Russell to roll down the window, which he did.

"English?" The female guard asked, getting a nod from Russell. "No one's allowed in or out of the city, you have to turn back."

"I'm supposed to be guard duty for Doctor Ziegler?" Russell tilted his head. "Clearance Alpha-Delta-Tango-Bravo-Whiskey."

The guard checked with her superior, who nodded at her and she gestured for the gate to be opened. Russell slowly drove through under the guards' intense scrutiny.

The drive inside the city of uneventful, as the streets were empty due to the MRSA outbreak.

"Agent Dulk to Codename Mercy, I have entered the city." Russell said over the radio.

"Understood, I will be at the field hospital for another few hours. Keep watch and make sure Talon doesn't attempt anything." Angela's voice was accent-less and concise.

"Roger that." Russell pulled over and hopped out of the car. "Let's set up our recon spot on a rooftop somewhere."

Jingles materialized over his palm.

"I found a good vantage spot close by, you want a sniper rifle?" The Ghost asked.

"You bet." Russell nodded. The Ace of Spades disappeared, and he felt the weight of a sniper rifle on his back. "Perfect, let's head out."

. . .

The scouting so far had been uneventful. Jingles didn't point out anything, nor did Russell notice anything suspicious.

He slung the _Fate Cries Foul_ over his shoulder and sat at the edge of the building's flat roof, his feet dangling in the air. He was bored, very much so.

" _ **Uh, northwest, by the** **hospita**_ ** _l_ ,** _ **back entrance.**_ " Russell took out his sniper rifle once more and zoomed in on where Jingles pointed out. In his sights was a brown woman that held a high-tech Uzi in one hand while tapping some buttons on a holographic touchpad in another. The woman's hair was cut short, with strands going over her right eye. She wore unique-looking armor, part of which was a red and black cloak sporting a hexagonal pattern.

The back entrance of the hospital opened, and the woman went inside. " _ **We better check that out.**_ "

Russell hopped down from his building, breaking his fall with a double jump before running towards the back entrance. The fence gate was suspiciously open, and the guards were nowhere to be seen. Russell stepped cautiously, making sure not to make much noise as he followed the footsteps of the woman.

" _ **You have a bead on this girl?**_ " Russell asked.

" _ **She's…in the security room of the hospital. You better move quick.**_ " Russell accelerated his pace, following the the trace Jingles had on the woman. He was led to a locked door.

Readying his foot, he stepped back and kicked the it open. The piece was knocked out of the frame and fell forward. What revealed was the woman that he was following typing on the keyboard of the computer connected to a dozen monitors, quickly going back and forth through the feeds of every security camera in the hospital. The woman turned around and looked Russell in the eye.

"Damn, you saw me?" She asked, snorting afterwards. "Rhetorical question, of course you did."

Russell unholstered the Ace of Spades and cocked the hammer back, pointing the weapon straight at the woman. "Put the gun down, tell me what you're doing here and maybe I'll let you live."

"Maybe?" The woman chuckled, then snapped her fingers and the lights went out. "You made a mistake messing me."

There was commotion downstairs. "Better be fast!" The woman's voice was in his comms—Russell idly wondered how she got there in the first place. He walked to the computer terminal.

" _ **Jingles how quickly can you get the power back on?**_ "

" _ **Give me some time. Hostiles are coming straight for you, hold them off and I'll fix the lights!**_ " Russell gripped the Ace of Spades in his hands as Jingles materialized in front of the terminal and started zapping beams of light at it.

A smoke grenade rolled at Russell's feet and started spraying a light-grey gas that obscured his vision. The Hunter picked up the canister and threw it straight at the doorway, there was an impact followed by a scream as it hit someone.

The smoke covered the doorway and about half of the room. Russell heard footsteps and saw several flashlights shine through the thick smoke.

"Go, go, go! Fan out and eliminate the target!" The flashlights danced around inside their protective gaseous cover. Russell hazarded a shot at one of them, a man screamed and then something slumped to the ground.

"Man down!" Another man screamed.

Assault rifle gunfire rang through as bullets ricocheted off the walls and dug into the monitors behind Russell. " _ **PLEASE DON'T LET THEM SHOOT ME!**_ " Jingles screamed mentally.

Russell fired a few more shots at the lights, downing several of the unknown men.

The last set of footsteps backed off in time.

The smoke faded, and the lights went back on.

At the doorstep lay several of the hospital's security guards, in their white and red armor underneath black vests with the word 'SECURITY' on the back.

"Oh..." Russell said as he looked with wide eyes at his grave mistake. "Shit."

"Whoopsies! **"** The voice of the woman taunted him, giggling soon after. "Better turn yourself in!" A laugh came through the line.

Russell stepped over the bodies, into the hallway. Angela came rushing up with several security guards armed with a myriad of heavy weaponry in tow. He raised his hands and dropped his gun.

"First of all, I can explain."

The doctor's look of rage punched through Russell more than a Titan's fist.

. . .

Russell was immediately sent back to base in handcuffs and a reprimand from Reyes just waiting for him.

When the airship landed he was shoved out of the vehicle, being trailed by two heavily armored men with big machine guns.

" _ **I fucked up bad,**_ " Russell said to Jingles.

" _ **Yeah, you kinda did. On the bright side, I managed to find out who that woman was.**_ "

" _ **Really?**_ "

" _ **Yep! She goes by Sombra. She deleted a good majority of her personal information but from her trace, I managed to find a name: Olivia Colomar.**_ "

" _ **Interesting, we'll follow up on it later on.**_ "

Russell was led straight into Gabriel Reyes' office and was forced to sit on a chair opposite to the commander's desk. Speaking of the commander, the man was obviously very angry and looked like he was about to explode into a million pieces.

"First of all, I can-" Russell was interrupted.

"Yeah, you can explain all you want, but how am I supposed to tell Morrison that my newest agent gunned down an entire squad of hospital security guards!?" Reyes about ready to burst into flames. He slammed a fist on the table "You messed up real bad, boy, and I'm gonna have to take the fall, huh!?"

Russell tightened the seal on his lips as the commander's rant went on, he zoned it out a few minutes and waited until Gabriel stopped talking.

"Commander," Russell started. "There was a hacker that infiltrated the hospital."

Reyes' enraged expression lessened a bit at the statement. "Elaborate."

"Sombra, ring a bell?" The commander's brows furrowed. "She planted a worm in the hospital's security system. I managed to stop it from spreading to the surrounding area's medical facilities."

"I thought the soldiers barging into the security room were Talon." Russell silently gulped. "They threw a smoke grenade and I couldn't identify them. I only exercised what I knew."

It was obvious the commander wasn't at all happy at the situation but seemed to understand it a bit more. "Give me a report on the incident by tomorrow morning or your ass is toast." The man said. "Get out of my sight."

Russell stood up and left the office, the guards stayed behind.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Jingles materialized and orbited Russell's head.

He felt kind of bad about the situation, but not really. After all, he was only defending himself against a perceived threat.

"RUSSELL DULK REQUESTED AT RESEARCH LAB." The intercom called out.

Jingles disappeared. " _ **Guess we're gonna go meet Winston.**_ "

. . .

Russell's Ghost did say that the lead scientist was a gorilla, but it was still surreal to see a _life-size gorilla_ in a lab coat and glasses. He hadn't even seen a gorilla before!

Russell could barely contain his shock as Winston shuffled up to him. "Agent Dulk, a pleasure to meet you." The gorilla extended an enormous hand, which Russell put his hand on. The scientist gently closed on it and lightly shook, then exhaled in amazement.

"Your ship contains marvelous technology," The scientist began. "It's…decades, no, centuries ahead of our time!" Russell could tell Winston couldn't contain his excitement. "The numbers it outputs are frankly amazing and beyond anything I have ever laid my eyes on. If you know the one who created this, please get them in contact with me." The gorilla smiled, shaking in elation.

"So…what did you call me here for?" Russell asked, putting a hand on his hip as he looked behind Winston, towards his broken ship that was being analyzed with scientists in white lab coats and thin tablets.

"I want to inform you of the time it would take to repair your ship into working order." The scientist started. "Considering it contains such advanced technology, with subject matters that we haven't even begun to successfully implement yet let alone research…it should take two years." The answer surprised Russell. Winston chuckled. "I see that you were caught off guard by my answer, my people are brilliant." The gorilla smiled and turned towards the team of scientists that were picking apart Russell's ship.

The emergency beacon was still on, so they haven't figured out how to fiddle with that part of the ship yet.

Russell sighed longingly at his ship. "It's a beauty isn't it?"

"Indeed so," Winston replied. "Anyways, I shouldn't waste your time any longer."

Russell stared for a few more seconds before turning around and walking to the exit.

/

 _Lore entry unlocked:_ _Russell Dulk, a s_ _ _tudent of_ Cayde-6_

 _Entry 2 : Mentor_

 _Russell's kind of a free spirit, like every single Hunter out there. A bit more reckless than most but hey, he's perfect to me. Before the first week of tutoring I managed to pore over the guidebook that Ikora wrote, to get a general idea of how to mentor an up-and-coming Guardian._

 _It was a bunch of crap, lemme tell you that._

 _So I tossed the book out and decided to teach in my own way._

 _First day, I threw him in a cage, locked and covered the cage, then threw it somewhere in the EDZ. Shouldn't be too hard, I thought._ _He was supposed to, you know, make his way back to the Tower in twelve hours tops._

 _He came back a week late, and it looked like he really hated me after that. A bit rude, but what's a good tutor without a fiery relationship between them and their student?_

 _Okay, so I asked him, 'what did you learn'?_

 _He called me an asshole and went on about how I threw him in the middle of a Fallen field base. I almost had to hear about how they nearly took advantage of him but I managed to stop him before it got to that point. That's besides the point, how was I supposed to know that they set up shop there?_

 _What? They were there for a week? Since when did they-Hawthorne! What the Hell? You could've told me! What do you mean you gave me the report the day they started setting up there?_

 _Wait, was that-oooh. Oh…so that was what…that was for._

 _Okay, I might have messed up a bit there, looking back on it, just a bit. He made it out fine though, so we shouldn't worry too much on it._ Cayde laughs.

 _Hey, Colonel, how you doin'? Did I forget to feed you-oh no don't touch that!_

A cluck could be heard, followed by pecking ** _._**

 **RECORDING INTERRUPTED** _ **.**_

/

Russell woke up in the early hours of the morning. Sitting up on his bed, he turned around and his feet met the floor.

"Jingles what time is it…" He muttered, rubbing his eyes as he stood up.

" _ **It's about five AM in the morning. Your report's done by the way.**_ " Jingles replied.

"Great…if you could send that to the commander that would be great…" Russell muttered once more as his vision cleared up, although the dark room didn't help much.

"Why did I choose to stick with these guys?" Russell asked himself.

" _ **You're a Guardian, your pledge remains with humanity no matter where or when it is.**_ " Jingles appeared and floated around Russell's head. " _ **Of course, you could go the terrorist path, but no one would like that. Besides, I think it would be easier on you if you could relax a while?**_ "

"That's true…" All Russell had known since being awoken at the Cosmodrome was violence in his everlasting role in the fight against the Darkness. Did he even know why those guys were after the Traveler? The answer to that question would be no, but he didn't bother to ask why. Humanity has always been at war with them, and Russell was in no position to doubt it.

Fighting was an integral part of his life, he could never really _relax_. Maybe his time here would serve to recharge for him to be truly ready for the fight against Riven of a Thousand Voices.

The Traveler knows how many close-ones that Taken fuck-face took.

Somewhat ironic that Russell was the first Guardian to step into the Dreaming City in a decades, yet he wasn't involved in any raid operations involving the Taken Ahamkara.

"Don't worry, it won't matter who takes the big one down, as long as it happens." Jingles said. "Not fair to steal all the titles, eh?" The ghost nudged Russell in the shoulder.

"I need a walk." Russell decided as he looked for a shirt and pants good enough to brave the autumn morning chill. Upon picking something out of the vast selection of _two_ sets of blank shirts and pants, the Hunter headed out.

. . .

The air was chilly, and Russell could see the condensation of his breaths. It was still a bit dark, but the sun was rising in the horizon, shining some much needed light.

 _Man, this place is beautiful_. Russell thought as he put his hand on a railing, looking downwards towards the city that lit up in warm yellow dots. He kept his hand on the railing as he walked parallel to it, dragging his fingers on the cool metal.

He remembered doing walks like these with his former girlfriend, Cassandra.

Russell didn't want to remember Cassandra. His other hand balled up as a memory of his former partner, friend and lover flashed in his brain. It left as quickly as it came when Russell loosened up.

He took a deep breath and decided to admire the view some more.

So, his reputation was probably in the shitter after the incident in South Africa, he idly wondered how the commander would deal with him.

Of course, he could just send them all to the deepest pits of Hell but that was not the preferable option.

Amazing how they even accepted him in the first place after his skirmish with that Oxton woman. He attacked one of their agents, for crying out loud, why was he even here?

Russell's thoughts wandered somewhere to another place.

/

 _Hellas View, Mars._

It was done.

The literal Hive Worm God had been taken down. The deity flailed around as the sustained heavy weapons fire plus the Warmind's Javelin from the 3-man fireteam took it to the grave.

Russell collapsed on his ass as the two other members of Fireteam Juno danced under the shadow of the currently collapsing worm god. There was the obvious sound of smooching as the Titan and Warlock embraced each other before being crushed by the collapsing body of Xol.

Fortunately, their Ghosts were there to revive them and all three laughed at the absurd situation. The Worm God eventually dissolved, and the platform was empty.

Russell had wished Cassandra was here to experience the joy of victory with him, but she was deployed along with five other brave Guardians, on a raid operation to hunt down the Taken Ahamkara that plagued the Dreaming City.

The victory was rewarding, and Jingles was happy about it but something felt missing.

"Come on, cheer up!" Titan Hazel lightly punched Russell in the arm as she danced around in joy some more. "Don't worry about Cassandra, she'll be fine!"

Russell had a half-smile on his face as he looked at the spot that Hive God's corpse used to occupy. "I guess." The Hunter stood up and hugged the Titan and Warlock of the fireteam.

"Drinks on me!" The Warlock said as her Ghost appeared floating above her palm.

"Come on Russell, loosen up a bit!" Jingles said as he chirped a positive tone. "Wouldn't hurt to not be angsty and melancholic all the time."

"You're right, I'll meet you guys at the bar!" Russell teleported back into orbit, the other fireteam members followed.

/

" _ **Are you still guilty about that night?**_ " Jingles asked.

" _ **Kind of, I didn't know Cassandra was dead at the time and it still feels wrong.**_ " Russell replied.

" _ **Come on, they slipped roofies in your drinks, there was nothing you could do.**_ "

" _ **I don't know, warn me about them? Fo**_ _ **r a representative of the Light, you're pretty shady.**_ " He chuckled at the unintended pun.

"Tell me, why don't you appear in any database in the world?" Russell jumped at the sudden Spanish-accented voice speaking through his radio. He would probably have to do something about that. "You got some secrets to hide?"

"Piss off," Russell muttered in reply.

"Come on, don't be like that! I promise I'll keep it secret!" The voice on the other side said mockingly.

"I swear I will fucking find you and you'll be in a world of hurt," Russell replied, tightening his grip on the railing.

"Don't take it out on the railing!" There was a laugh.

" _ **On the rooftop, behind you.**_ " Jingles said.

" _ **Now.**_ " The Ace of Spades appeared in Russell's hand, and he turned around, his crosshairs pointed straight at the woman that was annoying him. As quickly as he turned his finger pulled the trigger.

The woman sidestepped the shot. "Whoa there, you're gonna hurt someone!"

"Yeah, that's gonna be you."

"If you can catch me!"

"Oh, I will."

"Not likely, you'll be chasing shadows." The woman soon disappeared.

"Yeah, I'll be chasing a _Sombra._ " Russell leapt up and followed.

* * *

 **Edit 2: Seeing my lack of knowledge on Destiny lore at the time I wrote this makes me want to die.**


	3. Memories

**Edit: Fixed grammar issues and some minor continuity details.**

 **Edit 2: Refreshed it with actual information good to the lore and grammar stuff. Reorganized some stuff too. Added a lore entry at the end.  
**

* * *

Jingles kept a steady track on Sombra's signature as Russell followed the outline that was supposed to be the woman. Leaping over a duct, Russell pursued the elusive hacker, sliding under some pipes and double-jumping once he got close enough to his target.

"Fast one, eh?" Sombra said as she sidestepped the Hunter's punch. Her quip proved to be a mistake as Russell quickly took the opening and backhanded the side of her head. "Ow! Come on, dude!" The hacker threw something down behind Russell before going in for a punch.

Russell attempted to grab her hand, but the woman teleported behind him and landed the punch to the back of his head. It would have been an impressive move if she had Titan levels of strength, but that wasn't the case.

"Good hit, but…" Russell turned around and grabbed the woman's neck. "Bit of a lightweight, aren't ya?" He threw the woman to the edge of the rooftop.

Sombra barely had enough time to sit herself up before Russell's foot was pressing on her ankle with enough pressure to fracture the bone. She grit her teeth and groaned in pain.

Russell took out the Ace of Spades. "You know, I should just get rid of you right now." He said.

"But I need a favor."

"Hey man I'll do whatever you want, just let me go." Sombra coughed a few times. "You need information? I have everything-Agh!" Russell pressed down on her ankle.

"I don't need information. I need you to…create a fake identity for me." The hacker's brows furrowed as she looked at him with confusion, ignoring the current strain on her foot.

"Is that seriously it?"

"Yep, I'll let you off easy this time. Next time…not so much. My drone here will send you the details." Jingles materialized.

" _ **She tried to hack me. Fortunately, I don't rely on TCP/IP protocols so she just went into a dead end. They still rely on Unix based software, you know that?**_ " Jingles monologued.

"What kind of name is-Agh oh come on!" Russell pressed on her now broken ankle.

"You really should stop trying to be funny sometimes." The Hunter smiled at Sombra. " _Olivia._ "

"H-How do you know that name?" He let go of her ankle.

"Connections. Now get out of sight before this beauty here blows your brains out." For effect, Russell twirled the Ace of Spades, and trained it on the woman. "You have ten seconds before I start shooting."

Sombra quickly scrambled to her feet, relying on the foot that had the non-broken ankle. She turned around and then disappeared.

"Make sure it looks realistic!" Russell called out before turning away, giving one last look over his shoulder as a small airborne vehicle rose into the air – practically silent – and flew away.

"Pretty good there, right?" Russell chuckled as Jingles did the equivalent to a shrug with his shell.

"If I do say so myself."

/

 _The Tower, a year prior…_

Russell held the tin of cookies in his hand as he anxiously waited for Cassandra to come back. His fireteam had finished their Strike operation before Fireteam Tidal would finish their raid on Riven of a Thousand Voices.

They had planned every part of the raid so meticulously, it was practically impossible that they would fail. Cassandra said she'd made sure of that. Russell hoped she would hold true to her promise as the fireteam were a couple minutes late by now.

Russell sat down, shaking the tin of cookies that he had prepared in anticipation of the Dawning. A mixture of Taken Butter, Vex Milk and Ether Cane with some Personal Touch was what he could come up with. Cassandra said she liked homemade things, so this was the best Russell could make, considering he only came up with the recipe a week ago and only went around to collect the ingredients a few days ago, and now got around to baking it today.

His anxiety grew as Fireteam Tidal grew increasingly late: It was now five minutes. Cassandra hated being late, she was always a punctual woman. She planned the raid so carefully, they should've been back already!

Russell really missed her, despite it only being a week. It felt like a part of him was missing when she wasn't around.

Titan Hazel sat down next to Russell. "Who're the cookies for?" She nudged his shoulder. "Is it for…"

"Yeah, it's for Cass." Russell felt butterflies in his stomach at the mention of her name. "Only a gift to make up for our time apart."

Hazel laughed. "Oh come on, aren't you overdoing it a bit with the romantics?"

"What can I say?" Russell chuckled.

A Titan in scorched armor teleported into the Tower, clearly injured as he collapsed to his knees. Russell quickly sprang up and caught the guy before he could fall.

It was Titan McAllan, a member of Fireteam Tidal. Russell's anxiety spiked. He sat the man down as Guardians started to gather around the injured Titan.

The Titan started speaking before anyone asked. "She…killed her, she killed them all!" Russell paled, the butterflies in his stomach was replaced with needles.

"What happened? Where's everyone else?" Russell gulped, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Riven…she's too strong. She wiped them all out!" The Titan started hyperventilating. This man was a veteran, having been one of the fireteam members of the first attack on Riven, so it was quite unusual for him to be panicking like this. "There's no way, we can't beat her! She'll end us all, you hear! She'll end us all!" Russell shook the man and fixed his head to look straight at him.

"Where is everyone? What happened?" The Hunter's voice was neutral and as reassuring as he could muster.

"Kalli took out Arya-Three, Shuro Chi felled Ryan, Ilin and Tori-Four were trapped in the Vault. It was only me and Cassandra to face Riven. She was the last one to fall...she tried to hold off Riven on her own. I…I ran." The Titan looked down ashamedly. "I should've been there to die with her. I saw her beg for mercy...and her wish was granted. She's alive...but Taken."

The world spun as Russell took in the information. He let go of the Titan who could now hold himself sitting. His ears rang in an increasingly higher pitch and volume as the fact registered in his mind.

Cassandra had been Taken.

She was now an enemy.

The world went black.

 _. . ._

 _Months later. The Dreaming City._

"Guardian…I do not think this is a good idea." Zavala's voice was heard over the communications line. "She's more powerful than we could have ever imagined."

"It's alright, I can handle it." Russell said as he stabbed a Taken Psion in the neck, then killing a Taken Phalanx with a single shot of the Ace of Spades. "If anyone's going to take her down, it's me. Maybe I can convert her back? Maybe?" His voice was full of hope.

"Guardian…you know that you're risking your only chance of putting this threat down if you even attempt to bring her back." Ikora said. "In fact…I don't even know if it's possible."

Russell stood upon a grand door that slowly opened for him. "Well, wish me luck, guys." He sighed.

"…Good luck, Guardian." Zavala said before the line was shut off.

Cassandra stood on top of a few small steps with her Suros Regime Auto Rifle in hand. Her eyes were a twisted black that replaced her diamond-blue pupils.

"Oh, Russell…you romantic fool." The Warlock said as she smiled a sickeningly sweet and poisonous smile at him. "Perhaps…maybe you can embrace the Darkness too? So we could be together, forever and ever? Like the fairy tales said?" Her voice was sweet, too sweet.

Russell knew this wasn't her. "I'm doing the opposite, Cass. You're coming home with me." He loaded a glowing cylinder into the Ace of Spades.

Memento Mori was activated as he aimed his hand cannon at Cassandra, his eyes narrowed.

"Oh please…don't be foolish." The Warlock laughed in mockery. "Besides…being with the Darkness is more enjoyable being a foolish 'Guardian of the Light'. What a farce that was."

"Shut up, you're not Cassandra." Russell grit his teeth as his anger levels rose. "You're not her!" He said, through gritted teeth. Tears started streaming down his cheeks.

"You're entirely right." Cassandra paused, putting a finger on her chin, looking upwards with a disgustingly innocent curiosity. Her expression twisted into one of pure malignant evil as she devilishly smiled. "I'm better than her. Shall we?" She put her hand back on the Auto Rifle and pointed it straight at him.

"You and me, one on one." Russell said before sprinting straight towards the being.

Taken portals appeared to his side and an invisible barrier stopped him from advancing any further. "Not so fast, Russell, not so fast."

Several Taken enemies appeared.

Russell fired the first shot, he always did.

" **Guardian…give your will to me."**

/

 _Overwatch Campus, Cafeteria, 0700_

Russell rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming up. He grabbed his tray of food and went to go sit down, making sure to put on a smile on his face. Gotta look good in front of your colleagues, after all.

He missed Cassandra, he really did.

His face was pallid, and his eyes were haunted and blank. The memory always came back to him, his final duel versus Cassandra, their final dance together.

He could have done more, he should have done more.

The Hunter pinched his nose, then started eating despite his appetite wanting the opposite. It just went down his throat and into his stomach.

Lena came to sit in front of Russell, she didn't bring anything to eat. "Luv, you alright there?" She had a look of mild concern.

It took a second for him to recognize her voice. "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Just a bit tired."

From the edge of his peripheral vision, he could see Angela scanning him from afar.

Russell immediately let up the gloomy look. "Could barely sleep last night."

"Yeah, looks like it." Lena remarked. "There…something bothering you?"

A feeling of irritation started rising. "No." He said curtly.

"Come on, you look like you've been seein' ghosts!"

"If anything's gonna scare me, it's not gonna be ghosts." Russell answered as softly as he could. "I need some coffee." The Hunter then stood up and grabbed a paper cup on the way to the coffee machine.

" _ **You know, those cups are made of edible material-**_ "

" _ **Not right now, Jingles. Please.**_ "

" _ **Sorry.**_ "

Russell was not in a good mood today.

He downed the cup of coffee at the machine and poured himself another cup.

That cup got downed in a matter of seconds.

Having enough of the bitter coffee, Russell threw the container in the recycling bin and walked out of the cafeteria.

He needed to shoot something.

/

Lena sat back down with her table of colleagues.

"So, did you find out anything about him?" Jack asked, taking a sip of his drink afterward.

"Nope." Lena shrugged her shoulders. "Sounded really irritated when I asked if something was wrong. Might've ticked him off."

"He looks like he's about to fall over and die," Ana remarked, watching Russell leave the cafeteria. Her sharp eyes noticed his revolver materializing in the holster on the right of his waist. His gait and posture were poor and he looked ready to kick the bucket.

"He's definitely hiding something," Angela said as she cut up a piece of pancake. "I can't tell what…but it's not good."

Something irked Angela about Russell. Sure, he was sociable, but he distanced himself from his colleagues and seemed to suffer from something. The doctor would've concluded with PTSD but jumping straight to conclusions was rude. "He's the perfect soldier." She said.

"What do you mean by that?" Ana asked.

"He's sociable but works independently. It doesn't seem like he sees his enemies as individual beings. My grandfather said that that was what made the perfect soldier." She replied, grabbing her empty tray of food and offering to take her colleagues' trays for them. "He's distancing himself from his humanity."

That was quite rude, she thought, but it was the only way she could put it.

"Psychopathic, maybe?" Jack suggested. That was a definite possibility, considering his complete lack of remorse towards the incident in South Africa.

"Perhaps."

/

Russell swore to himself as he shot the civilian target by accident once more. They just appeared so quickly! How was he supposed to tell what robot was a civilian, and what wasn't?

"Fuck!" He swore out loud, reloading the Ace of Spades as he started another round.

An enemy sprang up, a bullet went straight into its head. Another came up, it went down soon after.

"You're a good shot." A voice alike those cowboys from the old pre-Golden Age movies said behind Russell. He paused the session and turned around.

A literal cowboy stood there, with a cigar in his mouth, a hand on the holster of his hand cannon and the other on the side of his waist.

Surprised was putting it a bit lightly.

"What, you haven't seen a cowboy before?" The man chuckled. "The name's McCree." A puff of smoke came from the cigar as the cowboy extended his free hand.

Russell cautiously took it and shook. "Russell Dulk."

Upon letting go of the cowboy's hand, Russell holstered the Ace of Spades. "There a reason you came up to me?"

"Uh, yeah. You're my partner for our next op." McCree stretched his neck, making a cracking noise. "Simple Talon hunting mission, Reyes will brief you more on the details."

. . .

"The mission's simple." Commander Reyes started. "Talon has been setting up shop in this forest next to a former Omnium factory in Russia."

"Normally we're not supposed to send anybody there, but they seem to have turned a blind eye even though their spies have been hounding them about this." Reyes paused. "Go in, eliminate any hostile you see and get out before the authorities respond. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Russell nodded.

"Good. Don't mess this up, you're walking on thin ice here, boy."

"Right…" Russell turned and headed for the door, McCree followed.

. . .

 _Somewhere in Russia._

The helicopter passed over the Talon field base as it headed towards their drop-in point. Quick mission, should only last a couple of hours and they should be back in time to catch a late-night snack.

Russell looked downwards, marking every enemy he saw and having Jingles put them on his HUD. They seemed to be casually strolling around and not expecting anyone to even ask what was happening here. Probably having killed anyone that did already.

"Ya ready, partner?" McCree asked. Russell chortled in response.

"Of course."

"This is your insertion point!" Russell tied the rope to a point and threw it out of the helicopter. Of course, he could just jump off and double-jump to break his fall, but he had to arouse as little suspicion as possible about himself. "I'll be back in a few hours! Stay safe out there!"

Russell did a finger salute to the pilot before grabbing on the rope and hopping off the helicopter, sliding down the thick nylon string before landing on the ground.

"Pretty cold out here, don'tcha think?" McCree commented as he landed. "Darn freezin' out here!"

Russell rolled his eyes. "You'll live. Our target's just a few clicks west." He tilted his head in that direction. "Faster we do this, sooner we get to get out of this freezing shithole."

"Let's get a move on then," McCree said before taking off towards their objective. Russell followed and kept pace with the cowboy.

Their first encounter with the enemy was in the form of a lone guard who had fallen asleep leaning against a tree. Poor guy didn't know what hit him as Russell quickly twisted his neck in an unnatural position and killed him.

The area was quiet when they approached the base. It was decently sized, with a good number of soldiers were stationed there. Men and women milled about carrying cases of what was assumed to be weaponry or whatever they needed to do their thing out here. In the corners were watchtowers where snipers were either dozing off or about to doze off in their post.

"I'll take out the snipers, you start dealing with the ground units," Russell said as the Ace of Spades was switched out for the _Fate Cries Foul_. The Hunter quietly scaled one of the sniper towers, soon enough putting his feet inside them as he snuck up on the sniper that was too busy sleeping to do their job.

Russell covered their mouth and snapped their neck, holding onto the sniper to gently put them down, so that anyone under the tower wouldn't hear the impact from the body. He then set up his sniper rifle and took aim at the sniper who was leaning on the railing, smoking a cigarette and most likely daydreaming.

"Going loud." The Hunter muttered as he pulled the trigger. There was a _pwsh_ h as the target's head practically exploded. Russell quickly locked onto another enemy.

"SNIPER!" He heard one of the people on the ground say as he saw the foot soldiers scramble for cover. McCree opened fire, his revolver echoing throughout the area as the cowboy took down a multitude of enemies with a single cylinder.

Russell took aim at the last sniper and was about to fire until he heard the quiet footsteps of a Talon goon trying to sneak up on him. The man tried grabbing him by the neck, but Russell overpowered him and threw him to the floor.

The man struggled against the Hunter's grip as he tried to free himself from the hold on his neck. Russell then threw the poor guy off the sniper tower.

" _ **Pretty far drop.**_ " Jingles commented.

" _ **That's gonna last a while.**_ "

Russell picked up his sniper rifle once more and quickly dispatched of the last sniper who was ineffectively trying to hit McCree—as the cowboy was simply too quick and always seemed to roll away at the perfect time.

"Let's get down there…" Russell muttered to himself as he jumped down, using a double-jump to break his fall. The Fate Cries Foul was replaced with the Ace of Spades. Russell twirled it in his hands, looking for any enemies to slay.

Unless McCree killed them all, which he did for everyone on the outside. How the cowboy did that so quickly Russell would never know.

"I'm waitin' on you so we can storm this darn thing and go home!" McCree called out using his radio. "I'm over by the main building, get a move on!"

Russell got a move on and met McCree leaning next to a door, loading some new bullets into the cylinder of his revolver. "Well? What're you waiting for?" The Hunter took the queue and kicked the door open, it flew off the hinges and landed a few feet away from the frame.

Russell went in first, his weapon at the ready. Inside the small command building was a fat man in formal clothing and a Talon soldier. The latter was quickly dealt with while the former stood there menacingly, or as menacingly he could, which was not very frightening. Russell raised his weapon and pointed it at the man.

"Do it, I _dare_ you." The man said, his voice seeping with venom.

Russell thumbed the hammer of his weapon. "Oh, I will."

McCree pushed the barrel of the Ace of Spades down. "Unfortunately, you can't kill him." The cowboy sighed. "He ain't Talon."

"Looks like he's working with them, so probably as bad," Russell replied. "Let's just get this over with. What are we gonna do with him?"

" _ **He's a high-ranking Russian Army official, Russell. It's probably not the best idea if you killed him.**_ " Jingles added.

" _ **Really?**_ " Russell holstered his hand cannon.

"So, what do we do with you?" The Hunter muttered as he turned the man over and forced him on his knees.

"You shall not treat me like-" The man was interrupted by a jab from Russell's elbow.

"Shut the fuck up before I break your arms."

"Gentle, be easy on him. We can't risk injuring, yet." McCree said. "I'm contactin' command to see what we do with him."

"Why can't we just fucking kill him?" Russell demanded, letting go of the official who rubbed his wrists standing up. "He's working with Talon, so he's an enemy too!"

"Yeah, but we can't go about killin' high officials in different governments. Look, I know it's frustratin' for the both of us, but we have to go through chain of command before we make our next move."

Russell groaned in response. "Alright, fine." He threw a glare at their prisoner, who returned likewise. "He moves in a way I don't like, and I'll put a bullet in his brain." The Hunter kept a constant watch on the man, tracking every minuscule movement he made.

McCree exited the room whilst talking to Commander Reyes, soon enough the cowboy soon came back in. He nodded to Russell. "Send a message."

Russell smirked as he raised the Ace of Spades once more.

"Wait, you can't do this-" The man was interrupted by a shot to the arm that nearly took it off, with only a few strands of flesh keeping it attached to his body. Russell kicked the man down and shot his kneecap. Their prisoner screamed in guttural pain.

"That enough?" The Hunter asked.

"Should be."

"Alright, let's get outta here. Army's comin' soon."

The two left the room, leaving the Russian official in his pain.

The helicopter soon came back and picked them up.

" _ **Jingles you mind typing up the report for me…pretty please?**_ "

Jingles groaned mentally. " _ **Fine.**_ "

" _ **Thanks, dear Ghost.**_ "

/

Gabriel Reyes read the mission report submitted by Russell. The result was satisfactory and hopefully, the message was sent to the Russian government on their apparent cooperation with Talon. He turned off the tablet when Ana walked in.

"There's a situation that requires your attention, it involves your new agent." The co-commander of Overwatch said.

Gabriel grumbled a bit as he stood up. Of course, when something goes right, something else must go wrong. It all balances out in the end, no such thing as a truly good day.

The two headed out towards the location of the supposed incident.

. . .

It took place at the sparring arena where Russell stood embarassedly in front of a brutally beaten up Overwatch soldier. The agent kept on repeating apologies, yet didn't look guilty at all.

"Look man, I'm sorry I hit too hard and-" Gabriel glared at Russell, which shut him up quickly. "What happened here was totally my fault."

Angela rushed in soon after with a First Aid kit. The medic kneeled next to the gravely injured soldier. "What happened?" She asked as she pulled out some gauze and the small bottle of rubbing alcohol. "This will sting a bit." She muttered.

Russell started explaining himself. "So…it happened when we sparred, he made a sloppy punch, I kinda took advantage of that too hard and…uh...yeah, that happened." The man bit his lip. "Look, I don't know how many times I gotta say sorry, but I'm really fucking sorry dude."

"Russell, in my office. Now." Reyes threw a glare at his newest agent. "Ana, you're gonna have to come with me too."

"Yes, sir."

. . .

"Can you go _one_ day without messing something up? Just _one_ day where Morrison isn't up my ass about you!?" Gabriel scolded. "Don't make me regret ever letting you in here."

"Yes, sir." Russell's tone was polite and reserved. "I'll…do my best."

"What I don't need is your best, just _stop fucking around!_ " Reyes' grip on his desk tightened. "I don't know if where you come from has different rules, but that shit isn't accepted here!"

Russell looked downwards in supposed shame, but Gabriel could tell that he was faking it. Ana looked sternly at the agent.

"We're gonna have to add some new rules." The sniper muttered. Gabriel sighed in response.

"I'll give you one more day. Behave and maybe we can discuss something about your presence here."

"Yes sir."

/

 _The next day, Overwatch Campus 0500_

"You know, that wasn't the worst scolding I've received," Russell said to no one in particular, he kicked his feet on his bed and relaxed. "Reyes really can't compare to Zavala."

Jingles appeared, his shader now different. Instead of the usual midnight blue it was a mix of red, white and green.

"What's with the festive colors?" Russell inquired, tracking his Ghost fly about in the air.

"Oh, just felt like changing colors, midnight blue was getting a bit boring." His Ghost replied, twirling around.

"Cassandra liked green." Russell smiled sadly. "Man, I really miss her."

"It's been over a year, Russell. Maybe it's about time you moved on?" His Ghost said.

"I…can't. I can't forget it." Russell replied. "I could've saved her, you know?"

"Oh please, it ends all the same with every Guardian twisted by the Darkness." Jingles rolled his photoreceptor.

"Maybe I could've been the first, huh?" Russell asked. "Maybe if I was strong enough, I could've done something. If McAllan hadn't interfered…"

"You would've been dead or worse, Taken too. He saved you." Jingles floated in front of Russell's face. "You owe your life to him, he would've wanted you to move on."

"If I was Taken…I could've spent more time with her." Upon hearing that, Jingles ran into his face, a pointy bit of his shell poking his eye. "Ow, what the Hell, asshole?"

"Don't say that. You're just lying to yourself right now."

Russell sighed. "Whatever."

Jingles then disappeared. " _ **Just…don't go around killing innocent people, alright?**_ "

"I do my best."

" _ **Guardian of Light, defender of humanity. Your pledge is to humanity, no matter where it is.**_ "

"Why are you bringing this up? I've only been here for a week."

" _ **And you'll most likely be here for a lot longer. Just…don't forget yourself.**_ "

"Understood, boss man."

Jingles made a positive tone before going quiet.

"I need something to drink."

/

 _The Dreaming City, one year prior._

Russell fired his first shot towards a Taken Phalanx, eliminating the being from existence as it warped to nothingness. The Hunter ducked a swipe from a Taken Psion, replying with a punch to its throat, and another to the one that formed after the original split itself into two.

Twisting around he backhanded a Taken Vandal, sending it screaming back to wherever it came from. The Ace of Spades rang once more as another enemy was put down. A Taken Fallen Captain was all that remained of the small Taken force sent to attack him. He threw a knife towards it, the blade detonating and shredding the Taken's shield, before unloading a round into it, finishing the job.

"Good, you're still sharp." Cassandra said as she dashed up to him with ungodly speed and threw a punch stronger than any Warlock has ever thrown. Russell's boots grinded on the floor as he was pushed back, his shield talking the brunt of the attack. "Unfortunately, you've never been able to beat me. Unlikely for the first time to be now, or ever." The twisted Guardian laughed.

"You're going down, you're coming back to the Tower and we'll make-" Russell was interrupted as Cassandra interrupted him with a volley of shots from her Suros Regime. "Alright, fine then." He muttered as he replied with a few shots of the Ace of Spades, twirling it as he loaded a fresh cylinder. He then went in for a quick punch, being met with equal force as they parried each other's jabs.

This was her exact fighting style, nothing changed.

Except she was much, much stronger now. It caught him off guard, as every time she parried, she would push back with much greater force than the Hunter would anticipate.

Whatever the Darkness did to her, it fucked her up and made her stronger.

Russell grit his teeth as he primed a grenade with his off hand and shoved it into Cassandra's stomach, quickly going back as to evade the blast. The explosive detonated in a flash of Solar Light as his opponent recoiled back but quickly picked herself up.

"Up to your usual tricks, huh?" Cassandra said. "Looks like playtime's over." Her malicious smile indicated something _bad_ was going to happen.

She was a Warlock after all, and her Super ability should have been charged by now. She did have a tendency to stick Super Mods into every piece of armor she wore.

" _ **Oh shi-**_ " Russell thought as he was suddenly blasted with a large beam of Darkness infused Arc energy that knocked his wind out, and slammed him into a wall.

The Hunter landed with a grunt and stumbled his way standing. "Alright, I-" He panted. "I didn't expect that one." He readied himself for battle as Cassandra quickly used the opening given by his momentary quip to inflict even more damage.

"Alright then," Russell unsheathed his knife. "Now I'm pissed." He grit his teeth as his legs propelled him straight to his enemy. His first move was a slice at her face that was quickly evaded, and a knee soon found itself jabbed into his rib cage. Sustaining the counter-attack, Russell charged back in and managed to land a cut on her cheek.

The cut disappeared after a few seconds.

Swearing angrily, Russell pushed on with his attack. Fist met knife as Cassandra attempted for a straight punch to his chest, more akin to a Titan rather than a Warlock.

When Russell side-stepped Cassandra had pulled out a sidearm and shot a few rounds into his chest.

His shield broke taking the bullets. Russell charged the Warlock and managed to knock the weapon out of her after taking an elbow to the face.

"Foolish." Cassandra said as she continued her attack. "You're a brute, unsophisticated." She stated coldly. "That's what I always loved about you." Her tone changed to a malevolent warmth as she continued pummeling the Hunter.

This was bad. In fact, it couldn't have been worse. He snarled as he pushed himself upwards, ready to meet her next attack.

Fire burned in his eyes as he grabbed a hold of her elbow and flipped the lightweight Warlock over himself, with the intent on crashing down on her afterward, but she kicked off his back, pushing him to the ground.

No matter, he caught himself and turned to face his opponent.

She was good, unnaturally good.

Russell was ready to bounce back into the fight, determined to win this one.

The brutality and savagery of every blow would even make Shaxx pause. No mercy was given or taken, every strike was meant to kill as fast as possible. Russell stopped caring about bringing her back a few minutes ago and his only goal was to kill this bitch as soon as possible.

Russell, with murder in his eyes, gave a war cry as he charged Cassandra with his blade, with every intention of killing. She only smirked and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her. Russell used his other hand to grab the Ace of Spades. Although this one wasn't his usual aiming hand, it was serviceable. He pressed the hand cannon to Cassandra's chest.

A short yelp came out of his mouth as a blade met his stomach. He looked down to see that it was his, and fell to his knees, dropping the Ace of Spades.

/

 _Lore entry unlocked:_ _Russell Dulk, a s_ _ _tudent of_ Cayde-6_

 _Entry 3: Concerns from the Vanguard  
_

 _Russell Dulk is an...interesting Hunter. Imitating Cayde-Six more than I would prefer but he was proven to be efficient in the battlefield. When he had heard of his significant other being Taken, he has taken a turn for the worse._

 _I tried my best to stop him, but all that was left was the broken shell of a man and a dead Guardian. I should have done more. Even though he still retains the same personality, it is quite apparent that it is all a ruse, and his participation in the Drifter's Gambit only proves that to me._

 _I worry for him, and Ikora does too. It's unthinkable losing a close friend and a lover within short time periods, the death of Cayde-Six affects us all, but it seemed to have struck him particularly hard._

There is a sigh.

 _I have received intelligence from Ikora of the Praxic Order taking particular interest in Russell, thinking that he would walk down a dark path and follow in the footsteps of the man I shall not name. I only hope that his resolve is strong enough to resist._

 **RECORDING ENDED.**

* * *

 **Leave your thoughts in a review, and I'll see you next time.**

 **Edit: I did Last Wish maybe 20 times now.**


	4. Downfall

**I appreciate the offer for help with Last Wish, but I'm on PC. This should be the end of the 'Overwatch' arc I have. Next up, the 'Chaos' arc. This one should last only one or two chapters.**

 **Edit: Fixing grammar and shit.**

 **Edit 2: Reorganized stuff, added some lore entries.**

* * *

Russell fell to his knees, Cassandra had been cunning in her attack plan.

The Ace of Spades clinked on the floor as it dropped. The Taken Warlock walked up to the Hunter. "Finally..." She cooed, putting her hand on the side of his helmet whilst kicking away his hand cannon. Her fingers gently slid over the _Wing Contender's_ visor. Russell grit his teeth and looked defiantly at her.

"Fuck you." Was all he could say.

Cassandra laughed. "You're still resisting even after being defeated. Come…let's be together once more, I missed you." She smiled a sickeningly evil smile. Whatever that was, it wasn't the real Cassandra's. It was some twisted, demented version of it.

Cassandra's fingers found the buttons that popped his helmet off. "Finally, I get to see your face after _all this time apart._ " Her hand gripped his chin, a thumb was forced inside Russell's mouth. He bit on it with the intention of tearing it off.

"What a futile, useless effort." Cassandra's voice went cold. "Give up." She forced his head to look straight at her twisted eyes. "Give your Light to me."

Russell tried struggling but he couldn't muster the energy to do so. In fact…he felt his Light being ripped straight out of him.

" _ **Russell, if you're gonna do something, now's the time!**_ " Jingles urgently said as he was forcefully materialized.

Cassandra took a hold of the Ghost. "Jingles. _Mint_ missed you." Mint, her Ghost appeared.

Except it wasn't a Ghost, just the shell of one, with a single white light in place of the photoreceptor.

Russell could feel himself weakening.

"That's right, just submit…" Cassandra cooed as she rubbed the side of his head. "You're doing perfectly."

The sound of a hammer hitting metal came from behind as a flaming hammer was thrown into the Taken Guardian's face. She recoiled back and took out her auto rifle.

Behind Russell Titan McAllan stood, flaming with Solar Light. "Your time's up." The man muttered as he charged forward with his flaming hammer.

"Very well then." Cassandra smiled wickedly as she started shooting.

Russell crawled to his weapon.

. . .

Titan McAllan fought with speed and brute strength, landing multiple hits on Cassandra with his Hammer of Sol before the ability ran out.

Russell continued crawling for his hand cannon whilst they were tumbling about in their battle.

It seemed to go either way as swords clashed. McAllan's Double-Edged Answer clashed with Cassandra's Quickfang.

The sword was driven into the Titan's torso, he gasped in shock as he fell to his knees and Cassandra stood over him with her blade inside McAllan.

Russell reached the Ace of Spades. His grip struggled to grab a hold of the weapon as he struggled to stand up.

" _Pathetic._ " Cassandra said as she pulled the sword from McAllan's body. "I expected more from you." She added.

Russell found his footing and raised the Ace of Spades to the Warlock, his hand shaking.

She wasn't done with her monologue. Cayde-6 appeared next to Russell.

The former Vanguard Hunter pointed a finger gun at Cassandra and did hand gestures that indicated an explosion, all while accompanying with mouthed sound effects.

Russell glowed orange as Solar Light engulfed him and his weapon in flames. He closed his eyes as he pulled the trigger. The signature clang sound of the Ace of Spades echoed as a Solar-infused bullet of the hand cannon impacted Cassandra's shoulder.

The Warlock recoiled back and looked at Russell in wordless shock.

The Hunter's aim was true as another bullet hit its target. Cassandra doubled over as the bullet landed in her stomach.

The final shot killed her in a fiery explosion. The Warlock made a dying cry as she fell. The Darkness seemed to leave her as she died.

The Solar Light left Russell as he dropped his gun.

"That's right you…fuckin' dark bitch…" He muttered as he stumbled to Cassandra's corpse. "I was just going easy…you never stood a chance…" He drawled out almost drunkenly as the Hunter fell next to the Warlock's corpse.

Tears streamed down his eyes as he silently sobbed into her charred robes. "I didn't mean that…I'm sorry..." He said in between sobs.

The world went black.

/

 _European Dead Zone, Uncharted Wilderness._

Ghost Mint roamed the tree filled forest in search of her former Guardian. The Ghost's shell stood out in the forestry, sporting a mint-green color that was distinct from the natural green.

She hummed a jolly tune as she checked every crevice possible to find her former Guardian.

The Ghost had every intention of reviving her.

"Could she be…here?" She looked under a fallen log. "Mmm, nope." She muttered as she continued her search.

The Ghost wondered where her corpse could have been placed. While thinking, she ran into a tree. The little Light contraption bounced back and looked up, seeing the birds scatter up above.

She continued her search, still hopeful.

She heard from Jingles that the Warlock was buried out here because it meant something symbolic. Mint didn't really put much thought into their relationship, so she didn't know what some thick forest could symbolize.

"Hmm…If I were a dead Warlock that dated a free-spirit Hunter…where would I be?" Mint wondered as it looked around a tree. "Would her body be upright or laid down?" The female voice of the Ghost was cheerful and full of that child-like innocence.

"Where could you be, Cassandra?"

/

 _Two months after the operation in Russia._

Russell twirled with the Arc Spear as he battered a practice dummy with the Arc infused weapon.

Something about a staff that he just waved around and hit people with didn't scratch an itch that a flaming hand cannon could fill. The spear disappeared as his Super ability ended, leaving a fried dummy robot that was repeating a word of one the menacing voice lines programmed into it.

"Impressive," Jack Morrison said as he watched with interest. Russell turned around to face the Strike Commander of Overwatch. "Your skills are certainly…flashy."

Russell shrugged as the staff dematerialized. "Yeah, you could say that."

"The public would certainly love you."

"The public?" Russell asked, his helmet disappearing. "Why would they want to know about me?"

"Well…there was an incident in Venice," Morrison said, biting his inner cheek. "The public is aware of Blackwatch, but not you."

"Didn't I maim a Russian general last month? He never spoke up about that?" Russell asked, placing a hand on his hip as he hopped over the barrier that separated the training ground from the spectator area.

"Genji eliminated him a week after your operation in Russia," Morrison said, a tinge of regret in his voice. "There couldn't have been another way."

The fact that the Overwatch commander thought he cared that much was a success in Russell's books.

"Anyways, we're preparing an operation in Egypt. A hostage situation, our sources say that the Drifter is responsible."

"The Drifter?" Russell inquired. "Why would he be involved? He just sells weapons."

"He's now a field operator, according to our source in Talon. In fact, he's the one in charge of the hostage taking." Jack said, taking out his phone and tapping a few things on it. "Check your phone."

Russell pulled out the ancient (by his standards at least) device and opened the video Morrison had sent him. It was a video of The Drifter stating his demands and being all Drifter-like about it.

" _ **She did a good job.**_ " Jingles commented.

" _ **Yeah, can't say I'm not impressed,**_ " Russell replied.

"Guess I'm going, since I'm the only one that knows about this guy?" The Hunter asked, earning a nod from the commander. "That settles it."

"We're deploying in an hour. Try and make your getup a bit…brighter." Was the Overwatch Commander's parting sentence as he left.

" _ **Alrighty then…change my armor out to a Vigil of Heroes set, and apply Vanguard Magnus.**_ " Russell commanded.

" _ **You sure? It's your last set…**_ "

" _ **Did I stutter?**_ " In a second Russell's entire armor setup changed with its color, going from a mix of black and midnight blue to an ensemble of a white-blue and orange accents that considerably changed how joyful the Hunter looked.

"Perfect," Russell muttered as he dusted his shoulders of its non-existent dust.

. . .

"The color fits you," Ana commented as she visually scanned Russell's armor. "Brightens your mood."

"Gotta look good for the public." Russell cracked his neck. "You guys have any catch phrases? Would I need one?"

Ana laughed. "No, we're a bit more serious than that."

The Hunter deflated a bit. "Damn, I wanted a line."

The sniper smiled. "Follow us, stand tall and look brave, don't do anything stupid and you should be fine."

Russell switched the subject. "So…about the mission, who are we rescuing exactly?"

"Overwatch scientists that are working on a big project for us." Ana shrugged. "We can't let their knowledge land in Talon's hands."

"I heard there was an infamous Talon sniper that was spotted in the general area," Russell stated. "Should that be a problem for you? You need a spotter?"

Ana laughed at the proposition. "Of course not. I will deal with them, as I always do."

"If you say so."

"We're deploying in thirty seconds! Get your asses on gear!" The pilot said over the intercom.

" _ **Is he the only guy that gets to scream at us like that?**_ " Jingles asked.

Russell shrugged in response. The airship landed, and the side door slid open.

Jack Morrison was the first to step out, followed by Ana then five Overwatch grunts. Russell stepped out last.

Cameras turned to him, microphones were shoved in his face as he walked behind everyone, keeping a vigilant eye for that sniper that Jingles warned him about prior to embarking.

A particularly persuasive reporter stepped in front of Russell and shoved his big microphone right in front of him.

"Are you the new operative that has been reported to join the strike team?" The reporter asked.

Russell glared the man down before shoving the camera away, continuing forward.

He followed his colleagues as more reporters screamed out questions that annoyed him ever so slightly with each question.

Having been fed up with being the victim of the barrage of investigative journalism, Russell turned around and glared at his surroundings under his mask. They seemed to get the message and quieted down a bit.

"All I can say is that we'll get it done," Russell said before turning back and catching up with Ana.

"Don't engage them, they'll only ask more questions." The sniper said. The group was let through a checkpoint guarded by soldiers. "I have to set up now. Good luck."

Russell did a finger salute as the sniper departed.

The building they had to infiltrate was a research lab, which meant it probably had many ways to enter and many things to hide in.

Except Russell wasn't the one doing the sneaking. He was the firecracker, the distraction to pull away attention from the team that would go and rescue the hostages.

The Hunter noticed a few drones flying about, they seemed to be news coverage drones. He waved to them before kicking the front door down, the Ace of Spades ready.

He kept his weapon close as he walked around the lobby of the building, which was devoid of any Talon soldiers. His footsteps echoed as he traversed towards the stairs, walking up a set before stopping.

Footsteps, which meant that they were here. There was screaming in the hallway as soldiers took position at the windows.

Had they not heard him barge in?

Russell accelerated his pace and kicked down a door, revealing a dark room with only a few rays of sun that broke through boarded up windows. By those windows were Talon soldiers that were visibly shaking.

"Man, this is so fucked, we're so fucked!" One of them said as he peeked through a gap in the wooden boards. "That cloaked guy? He's here! We're all so fucking dead!"

"And you would be right."

The clang of the Ace of Spades rang repeatedly inside the building as the Talon soldiers were put down. All clean shots, one bullet for every head.

Russell loaded a glowing cylinder into his weapon.

There was shuffling upstairs, and some muffled screaming.

" _ **They're moving the hostages up, we better move.**_ "

"Strike-Two to Strike-Leader I have confirmation that the hostages are here. I'll clear a path." He walked up the stairs to the next level. It was a massive laboratory decked with tables, equipment and big containers filled with presumably dangerous materials peppered along the walls. Upon entering, the butt of a weapon was on a crash course to Russell's face.

The Hunter ducked and stabbed the Talon soldier in the stomach, making the poor guy peeled over and fall with a gasp. The lights flickered as Russell analyzed his surroundings.

It was completely devoid of any enemies. The lights flickered once more before shutting off.

Giggling came from the dark as a red streak lined the walls. Heavy footsteps were also approaching.

A ninja with blades on their forearms jumped onto Russell's shoulders. "Engaging the enemy!" The ninja's voice was feminine. She giggled as one of her red blades was pressed against the Hunter's throat. "Looks like you're in a bit of a _sharp_ situation!"

Russell rolled his eyes as he hit the assassin's head with the grip of his hand cannon. She slashed his neck, but the armor proved too strong. He kicked her off and soon tackled her.

The heavy footfalls increased in loudness as a big armored man with a weapon that fit him entered the room. "Let her go!" The man's voice was distorted and deep. He also charged up his weapon.

Red plasma pellets came from the big gun as it discharged. Russell ducked and grabbed the tiny assassin by the neck, then wrapped his forearm around it. He pressed the woman against himself as his other hand held the Ace of Spades pointed at her back.

"You move a single step and at the very best she's disabled for life. At the very worst it would be pretty painful, for both of you." The armored man gripped his weapon tighter as he trained it on Russell's prisoner. "Your choice."

The man growled as he lowered the weapon and dropped it. "Fine, let her go."

Russell pulled the trigger of the Ace of Spades and shot a bullet through the woman, then used the same hole that was burned to land another shot on the armored man.

The assassin screamed as she was thrown down. Russell advanced on the armored soldier, casually firing a few more shots that landed on the chest of his enemy, the metal armor making the bullets ricochet. He quickly shot a few more to the helmet, knocking it off.

A explosive knife was in a crash course to the soldier's head. The man collapsed to his knees, his head missing, and slumped over. Blood soon formed in a puddle.

"Gross," Russell muttered as he stepped away from the body of human fluid. "Man, you guys are so gullible." He quipped as he then ended the assassin's life.

" _ **That was pretty dirty.**_ " Jingles commented. " _ **Shaxx wouldn't approve.**_ "

" _ **Shaxx isn't here.**_ "

" _ **True, but still…could've been a bit more honest there?**_ "

Russell rolled his eyes at the proposition. " _ **I was getting bored.**_ "

Jingles sighed through their mental link. " _ **I'm still shocked that Cassandra loved you.**_ "

" _ **Low blow, dude.**_ "

" _ **Yeah, that's what you did to them.**_ "

" _ **Look, I don't want to have this argument right now, let's just finish the mission and then we can argue over honor later.**_ " Russell finally said as he loaded a new light-blue cylinder into his weapon.

"Strike-Leader to Strike-Two, we've breached the building and located the hostages. We're waiting for you." He then rushed out to meet the rest of the rescue team.

Morrison and a few other Overwatch grunts were piled up next to a simple, metal door. "After you." The commander said. Russell grabbed a flashbang from one of the grunts' utility belts and then kicked the door down then threw the device.

"You might wanna look away." Russell shielded his eyes and dashed into the room. A blinding flash of light and a bang that was equivalent in scale.

The Drifter stood there, the only one inside the room. Behind the man were the hostages. "Hey there, brother."

Russell looked at the definitely real looking man with curious intent. "What the-"

"Well, guess I gotta go now." The 'Drifter' quickly spun around and ran towards an exit at the left of the room.

Russell gave chase. "You guys secure the hostage!" He cried out to them before he disappeared.

The 'Drifter' took a left turn and then broke down the door to a utility closet. Russell followed the man inside.

The 'Drifter' disappeared like a hologram as soon as the Hunter entered the room. The utility closet was quite spacious for what it was and was dimly lit. Shelves of cleaning chemicals lined the walls and the actual room itself was peppered with cleaning machinery and tools.

At one end of the room, Sombra was leaning on one of the shelves, looking at Russell with a smirk and twirling a strand of her hair in one finger. "Pretty good, right?" The hacker asked. "Took me a week to master."

Russell could admit, she was right. Thinking the two were pretty well acquainted and friendly enough, he put away his hand cannon. "I fell for it, so yeah, that wasn't half-bad."

Sombra chuckled. "Thought so…" She paused. "Say, why don't we…have a, you know, an agreement together?"

Russell furrowed his brows at the proposition. "What do you mean by that?" He slowly reached for the Ace of Spades in its holster.

"Hold on, don't shoot me just yet." She outstretched her arms and showed her palms to him, with a look of slight worry. "You know what I mean, I scratch your back, you scratch mine. We could both benefit!"

Russell bit his tongue. "You're not wrong."

"What do you say, _amigo_ , let's be partners in crime!" Sombra flashed a confident grin. "We'll get much farther in bringing down the _conspiracy_."

"The what now?"

"You don't know?"

"Nope."

"Then…what the Hell are you doing at Overwatch slash Blackwatch?" Sombra gave Russell a look of confusion. "You're not aware of the… _conspiracy_?"

"What the Hell is the _conspiracy?_ " Russell gestured in confusion.

"Okay, nevermind about the first proposition." Sombra paused. "Let's have a mutual agreement to keep each other alive, hm? Occasionally do a couple favors back and forth? That sound good?"

Russell shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess."

" _ **I don't think you thought this very thoroughly…**_ " Jingles said. " _ **You could be walking into a trap…**_ "

"Let's shake on it, then?" Sombra extended her hand. Russell hesitantly shook it. "Perfect, guess I'll see ya around!" The hacker then disappeared.

" _ **I'm probably gonna have to agree with you there.**_ "

. . .

The hostages were with the team, the airship was ready to exfiltrate, and everything was peachy.

Except that infamous Talon sniper that was mentioned earlier was in the area. Russell carelessly stepped outside first, doubting that anything could kill him, and if that did happen, Jingles was there. The Hunter casually walked around the open area, looking around trying to spot the sniper.

Then a bullet met his forehead. His armor tanked the shot, but there was a crack in his helmet now. His head recoiled downwards in response.

" _ **I got a bead on the sniper!**_ _**The pink building, third floor, corner window!**_ "

"Sniper's in that pink building, on the third floor in the corner window! Ana, do your thing!" Russell took cover as he saw an Overwatch grunt get sniped coming out of the building. "Yikes." He muttered as he peeked over his cover.

"Roger that!" Ana said as she took a shot. "I'm being engaged! Repositioning!"

There was a pause as Morrison did the very dumb idea of moving in the open with a bunch of hostages when there was a sniper in the area. As a result, another grunt went down to the sniper.

On top of that Talon grunts were on their way too.

No big deal though as Russell could handle those easily, and Jingles was there to tell him to duck or dodge in time.

It seemed that this sniper took a shot every chance they got. They were also deadly accurate, so that was a double negative that piled onto each other. Russell rolled into cover.

Those drones that Russell thought were news drones were in fact kamikaze drones. The devices flew into the pink building and detonated on impact, making a large crater in the building as the corner of it was completely destroyed. The sniper wasn't there though, which meant two things: He or she got blown up and turned into ash, or they were fast enough to move out.

Morrison used this opportunity to move his team, down two men. They were called Bayless and Al-Farouk respectively. Russell paid no mind as he followed the team. "Everyone move! Ana, you too!" The commander said as he rushed everyone into the Overwatch dropship.

"No." Ana replied. Morrison tried saying something else but it was quite obvious mid-sentence he was cut off.

There was an explosion in the distance and the boom of a sniper rifle echoed throughout the area.

Another shot rang out in reply, and all was quiet.

The dropship closed and lifted up.

"Did we just…" Russell really didn't want to continue his sentence.

"…Yeah." Jack replied dejectedly. The man took a deep breath. "We'll discuss this in debriefing."

/

 _Two weeks later…_

Jack Morrison sighed as he labeled Ana Amari as MIA. Although he was hopeful that she would be found, things didn't look good. The deployed search team combed over the area and never found her body, only the shattered scope of her rifle and a few blood stains that belonged to her.

The sniper was gone and most likely wasn't coming back any time soon. If she was alive.

Morrison sighed once more as he let Russell Dulk into his office.

The agent looked quite grim. Which never indicated anything good.

"Sir." The agent saluted as the door closed behind him. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead." Jack replied as he poured a glass of Scotch.

"You have a hearing with the UN committee." Russell promptly said. "I overheard them and…"

"It's not good, is it? Reyes couldn't keep his fucking dick in his pants and now look what happened." The commander bitterly muttered as he put down the glass. "…Keep an eye out, something's brewing…and I don't think I can stop it this time."

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Russell asked, keeping his formal posture.

"Cut the formalities. You know everything's going to shit right now, I can tell." The agent relaxed his pose. "I know Reyes is rallying something together and he wants to bring me down. Even if it takes out all of us. I bet he's responsible for the deaths of those key members, and now he's gonna come up with evidence that I did it. You know how fucked everything is for us right now?"

"…Keep a weapon with you, commander." Was the only thing Russell said before turning away. "…They're gonna strike."

"What? What do you mean-" Russell turned back around with a look that practically anyone could tell meant that he was entirely serious.

"This is the endgame, for you, and Reyes. Overwatch is falling, you and I both can see that." Russell paused. "I won't be here to witness it, but it's you and Gabe up in the spotlight." The man turned back around and left.

Jack grabbed a pistol stashed in his drawer and hid it under his coat. The commander put on a fake confident grin and left his office.

/

 _Lore book unlocked: Cassandra Messer, lost Guardian_

 _Entry 1: Russell Dulk_

 _Cassandra was a really formal woman. Punctual and spoke all posh like and was the most polite thing you could ever imagine. I…was, uh, enraptured by her. Everything she did and said just rubbed me the right way, you know?_

 _So…I got Cayde to work with Ikora in order to organize more missions as a duo for us to spend more time together…and it worked. We kicked it off and it went pretty swell._

 _So when I came to the Tower and found out that she was Taken…I broke down and fainted. Real embarrassing I know._

 _The next week I started hearing that she was killing other Guardians and taking their Light. I couldn't believe it, there was no way she would do that!_

 _So…I went out to find her, and I managed to see her roaming the EDZ._

 _What she did to that poor Warlock I…_

 _I can't do this, can we pause and finish later?_

/

Russell looked at his ship.

Brand new and pristine.

It looked like the day he first bought it off that con-woman Tess Everis.

Seriously, fuck her and her stupid-ass gift boxes, never gave anything decent.

The Aeviternal XII lifted from the ground as its landing gear kicked off.

"Perfect, Jingles you're fucking amazing." Russell mumbled to himself as he saw the beauty get towed into the airfield.

" _ **What can I say? I just sent them instructions.**_ " Jingles cheerfully replied. " _ **They did all the heavy work.**_ "

Russell's grin widened as he walked up to Winston. "When can I take off?" He eagerly asked.

The gorilla scientist turned around and faced him. "I think it should be ready to go." The gorilla replied, he smiled a polite smile. "Happy flying."

Russell's grin died to a half-smile as he rushed out to the airfield, bumping past a bunch of armed soldiers that glared at him.

He ran outside, smelling the beautiful, kerosene scented air as he ran up to his ship, teleporting inside it as he felt the controls again.

Like a child, he flicked as many switches up as he could, with Jingles appearing and flipping back the switches that weren't supposed to change.

Without as much as clearance to fly, the ship lifted in the air and went upwards at incredible speeds.

Russell didn't look back as the explosion rocked the headquarters.

/

 _European Dead Zone, Uncharted Forest_

Mint explored the woody forest, looking for her former Guardian. The Ghost accidentally bumped into a sleeping fox while checking if Cassandra was buried anywhere under a rock or a log.

The orange canine jumped up in surprise and ran. The Ghost followed it for absolutely no reason, keeping a steady pace with the animal as it ran for its dear life.

The fox stopped running when it thought it was alone, only to turn around and see Mint staring at it curiously. The canine curiously walked up to the Ghost, sniffing every step of the way before pressing its nose against the contraption.

It sniffed all over before stepping back.

"Ugh, gross," Mint commented as whatever substance was on her nose stuck to the shell.

The fox seemed a bit more relaxed now and turned around and started walking. It looked behind it as if it was expecting the Ghost to follow.

"Oh…you want me to follow you?" Mint asked as she hovered above the fox.

It moved at a regular pace, frequently checking to see if Mint was still following it, and howling if the Ghost looked like it got distracted.

The fox led the Ghost to a circle that was built out of a hard material, possibly metal. It was in the form of a circle and had pillars that surrounded it. At the middle of a circle was a black cloth that covered a humanoid figure.

Could this be it?

/

 _Lore book unlocked: The Search for Russell Dulk_

 _Entry 1: The Hunt Begins_

Huntress Xiao Zhen calmly walks up to Ikora, who turns around and greets her with a nod.

 _Ikora, what'd you need me for?_ Xiao puts a hand on her hip, cocking her head to the side.

 _I am sure you are aware of Russell Dulk?_ Ikora returns her gaze blankly.

 _Yeah, Cayde-Six's student and all that jazz? Who hasn't heard of him?_ Xiao coughs, then checks with her Ghost about a new message sent to her.

 _This was the last transmission he sent before disappearing._ Ikora says gravely.

 _Damn, am I going to be searching for him?_ Ikora nods.

 _Read my mind._ The Warlock Vanguard chuckles. _His ship was last detected at these coordinates, then there was a warp jump and he has gone quiet._ _Please, do what you can to find him, we don't have enough Guardians to defend the City in case it goes under attack._

Xiao Zhen nods. _I'll see what I can do._

The two part ways.

* * *

 **That should wrap it up.**


	5. Warlock

**Looks like I made a mistake. Chaos Reach is an Arc subclass ability. Not Void. Whoops.**

 **Edit: I deleted the chapter as I felt that I just rushed it way too hard. Here's the revised version.**

 **Edit 2: Redid lore entries, added more, fixed the flow of the chapter a bit, namely exposition.**

* * *

 _Lore entry unlocked: Cassandra Messer, Taken Guardian_

 _Entry 2: The Return_

A Warlock silently makes her way to Ikora. The Vanguard Warlock turns and has a look of surprise on her face after seeing who it was.

 _Cassandra._ Ikora says.

 _Your Ghost revived you?_ The Warlock takes a defensive stance, and a crackle of Void energy could be seen at the edge of her fingertips.

 _Yeah...why wouldn't she? Why does everyone give me a dirty look whenever I pass by?_ Cassandra takes a glance behind her, and several Guardians who've gathered in small packs split apart. _Did I do something wrong?_

Ikora's face twists, her expression indicating anger.

 _Did you do something wrong? Tell me, what was going through your head when you slaughtered Titans McAllan, Hazel, Gemini, Smith. Warlocks Xen, Davidson, Ray, Pop. Hunters Xia, Chang, Vladimir, and almost Dulk too._ Ikora lists out, one fist tightening.

 _What are you talking about?_ Cassandra puts her non-dominant foot back and looks suspiciously at Ikora. She sounds offended. _You're insinuating that I killed all of them? And I tried killing Russell?_ Her voice wavers. _Speaking of which, where is he?_

 _You seriously do not remember?_ Ikora sighs afterwards, her fists loosen up and the Void energy that surrounded her disappears.

 _No, I don't._ Cassandra notices the shift in stance and relaxes herself too.

Ikora pauses, and bites the inside of her cheek, looking away to avert Cassandra's gaze.

She eventually returns eye contact. _Russell Dulk has disappeared for a few months now, we don't know where he is._

Cassandra hums. _Huh, that's odd._

 _Indeed._ Ikora replies, her attention is diverted as she notices a group of Guardians slowly approaching her and Cassandra. _What are you all looking at?_ She snaps, making them all run in every direction.

 _Everyone must hate me, huh?_ Cassandra ponders, looking behind her.

Ikora lightly chortles and stares into Cassandra's eyes _._

 _Your name is associated with the likes of Yor. I have sent you what the Vanguard have managed to find out about his disappearance. It would be better if you…do not come back to the Tower._ She says, a tinge of regret in her voice. _You used to be my favorite student..._ She mutters to herself, low enough so Cassandra couldn't hear.

Cassandra gulps, nods and departs _._

When she was far enough, Ikora dials in the transmission code for a Huntress.

 _Keep an eye on Cassandra Messer, she's on the Hunt for Russell too._

/

 _The Dreaming City._

Cassandra Messer faced Riven of a Thousand Voices alone, having already cleared the rest of the complex it was empty going through. She stood and looked defiantly at the Taken Ahamkara. It's many eyes all focused on her, making her feel tiny and diminutive.

" **Ah…my most useful subject…tell me…how has your hunting gone?** " The voice Riven used was chilling and shook Cassandra to the bone.

"I'm not here for that," Cassandra replied firmly. "I'm looking for Russell Dulk."

" **...Russell Dulk? What could you possibly want with him?** " Riven's voice changed, but her curiosity was apparent. " **Have you not slain him?** "

"…Not yet." Cassandra paused.

" **He has passed through the Ascendant Realm in his vehicle...by incredible luck, he has gone through numerous portals that lead him to an alternate dimension.** " Riven paused. " **He is of no more use to this reality. I do not see why you want to go after him.** "

The Warlock stepped back on her non-dominant foot, if Riven were to screech and kill her, she would go down in a fight. There was a laugh from the Ahamkara.

" **I can sense your intention...are you lovestruck** **?** " Riven's laugh died down to a soft chuckle. " **Do not worry...I can definitely aid you, all you have to do is wish for it.** "

"Alright...I wish to be able to experience the rest of my life with Russell Dulk."

" **Very well then. Your wish has been granted.** " Riven's eyes shone.

A flash of light as the Ahamkara screeched and Cassandra was brought to a different dimension.

The Warlock landed on top of a building.

" _ **Mint, where are we?**_ " She asked her Ghost.

"… _ **London. Great Britain.**_ " Mint replied.

" _ **Search every database you can and find Russell.**_ "

" _ **Roger that.**_ "

Cassandra jumped off the building, landing on a street where a car nearly ran into her, but stopped just in time.

"What the fuck are you doing in the middle of the street!?" The man at the driver's seat screamed.

"Sorry, I'm just not feeling right. Could you show me where the nearest library is?" The Warlock's helmet dematerialized.

"The fuck you want to go to a library for? Did ya mean hospital?"

"I know what I said," Cassandra replied with authority, her features all frowned as she put a step forward. The man's anger disappeared at that moment, being replaced with fear.

"Uh…take a left then down the street you'll see it." The man quickly said before going back into his car.

"Thank you," Cassandra replied as she stepped onto the sidewalk and let the man drive away.

Meanwhile, Mint was busy finding stuff about Russell.

Their walk towards the library was short, it was a small hidden building, sandwiched in between two shops on the side of the street. On the other side was a bank that was being robbed. Cassandra ignored the commotion and entered the library.

It was quiet and brightly lit. There were rows of shelves that lined the place while people meandered about minding their own business. Computer terminals surrounded thick white pillars that supported the building.

Cassandra walked up to an empty terminal and started with a simple search.

 _Russell Dulk._

The name made her stomach flutter.

The search didn't reveal much, only an news article about a new agent that seemed to have joined an organization known as 'Overwatch'. She clicked on the link of the article and scrolled past, skimming through the information.

At the bottom of the page was a picture of a Guardian posing with a famous looking weapon, the Ace of Spades. The article was talking about Russell.

Cassandra read a bit more into the article and found that the image was taken in Egypt months ago.

She made a mental note on the location.

An explosion rocked the area, presumably from the bank across the street. Cassandra turned to the source of the noise and saw the building on fire.

The Warlock quietly made her way out of the library. A Breakneck appeared on her back.

A few criminals holding comically large burlap bags were escaping the building. They wore ski masks and held one-handed weaponry in their other hands. One of them locked eyes with Cassandra, who narrowed as her eyebrows took a more angled position.

"Put down the bags," Cassandra ordered, raising her auto rifle.

"What ya gonna do about it, bi-" The man was interrupted by a single shot to the head, he then fell, a pool of blood forming around the head wound.

"Do you all want to meet the same fate?" The Warlock hazarded, keeping her weapon trained.

The remaining criminals all split in two different directions. They ran with enhanced speed, abnormal for a regular person; these guys must have been modified somehow.

A very fast woman wearing orange latex and a bomber jacket went after the ones that bolted to the right.

Cassandra turned to the left and gave chase to the two criminals that went in that direction.

She quickly caught up to them as they were entering their escape vehicle, ready to run her over. The car roared to life. Cassandra blinked upwards, landing on top of the vehicle then pointing her rifle downwards to where the driver should be. A quick burst from the weapon, and the car veered out of direction and crashed into a pole. There was a spark, and smoke started coming out the front. The other man that was in the car stepped out coughing and fell over.

Cassandra wordlessly walked up to the man. "I'll spare you." She stated. "You try to run, and it will _not_ end well."

The man instantly put his hands behind his head. The Warlock grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him back towards the bank.

Police were already surrounding the area and didn't question the heavily armed Guardian throwing the criminal down in front of them. The constable looked at her and nodded, Cassandra returning it before turning and casually strolling away.

Her walk was peaceful, if not for a whisper from an alleyway.

"Psst!" A voice came from her left. "Over here!" She looked towards the alleyway and saw the woman from earlier.

The Warlock walked towards her.

"Sharpshooter, eh?" The woman quipped. "Say, you look a lot like that guy…oh what's his name…"

Cassandra tilted her head as she watched the woman come up with several names.

"Russell!" The woman proudly exclaimed. "Yeah, Russell was his name."

Cassandra perked up at that. "I'm an acquaintance of his. Would you possibly happen to know where he could be right now?"

"Oh! Um…" The woman thought for a bit. "He said that…before he flew out of HQ…he would be somewhere in America?"

"I appreciate the information." Cassandra paused. "How rude of me, I haven't even asked your name!"

"Oh, no worries, luv. Name's Lena Oxton." Lena replied. "Codename Tracer!" She did a small finger salute and flashed a confident smile.

"Nice to meet you, Lena. Now…I must get going. By any chance, do you know of anyone that can get me to where you pointed out?" Cassandra softly smiled.

/

 _Watchpoint Grand Mesa. Colorado, United States_

"Drop me off here!" Cassandra said to the pilot as the helicopter hovered above a stretch of forest next to the former Overwatch Watchpoint.

"I'll come back around in an hour!" She nodded to the pilot before jumping off the ship, double jumping to break her fall.

She landed gracefully, air whooshing underneath her.

The Watchpoint was just a couple of clicks west.

Russell was apparently deployed here once. Maybe she could gather some information about it, which could lead her to him. The Warlock headed west, taking in the beautiful forestry as she approached her target.

The base looked rundown. There were a few guards posted on the outer perimeter, and that was it as Mint said that there were no life signatures inside.

Cassandra pulled herself through a broken fence, grumbling as her cloak got caught in the metal construction. She assumed a crouched position as Mint marked every single enemy, including the one that just saw her go through the fence.

The Warlock cursed herself for her sloppiness as she equipped the Breakneck and fired a single bullet to the man's head. Said man fell over and died without a sound, but an alarm was pulled as his colleagues most likely heard the gunshot.

Cassandra sighed in frustration as she stood up and faced the security guards that began to form in front of her, their assault rifles ready. The Warlock smiled underneath her _Hood of the Great Hunt_ that was a nice bright green.

Should've changed the shader, but that doesn't matter right now. She ignored the commands of the guards and threw an Arcbolt Grenade towards the center of the pack of enemies. Upon detonation a chain of lightning linked a good three or four of the guards together, electrocuting them in a _shocking_ death.

Cassandra used the time it took for the rest to recover from the sight of their friends dying in front of them to take their heads off with single shots to the head.

She congratulated herself for her marksmanship.

Cassandra casually walked towards the front entrance of the dilapidated Watchpoint and had Mint hack the door open. Upon entering, the mess that presented itself somewhat bothered her. The Warlock stepped over a fallen couch and kicked a tablet that was playing some song on repeat to the wall, shutting the thing down. She made her way to an elevator and pressed a button that led to the bottom floor, hoping it would work.

Unfortunately, it did not. Cassandra pried the elevator doors opened. " _ **The servers should be at the bottom floor, correct?**_ "

" _ **Yup!**_ " Mint cheerfully said.

Cassandra cracked her neck before hopping down, landing gracefully as she kicked open the doors that led to the server-room floor.

" _ **Hang on, I'll get the** **lights,**_ " Mint said as the Light construct appeared and went on to shoot beams of Light to a control panel on the wall. Soon enough, the light fixtures came on and the servers came back to life.

" _ **They wiped some hard drives but it was probably a quick one. I can rebuild the RAID array if you give me enough** **time.**_ " Mint said as the Ghost flew over to a terminal that turned on.

" _ **You should have plenty of**_ **time-** " Cassandra was interrupted by footsteps above. " _ **Maybe not,**_ ** _I'll hold them off._** "

The Warlock readied her rifle and pointed it towards the other entrance, the one a person would have to take the stairs to get to. Footsteps and barked orders came from that direction as she heard something get placed on the metal door.

A blinding explosion came through and the door was knocked over, with several soldiers in black uniforms entering, fanning out within the rows of servers.

Cassandra peeked and fired her weapon first, bringing down two of the unknown assailants down. She went back into cover as the other men screamed and scrambled into cover.

The Warlock's eyes rolled as she listened to the jumble of military jargon they used.

 _Why can't they just use regular words?_ She wondered.

Another soldier turned the corner and was clearly surprised to see Cassandra there. The Warlock grabbed the man's neck and threw him down, stomping on the airway afterward. The unfortunate victim gasped for air as their windpipe was crushed, and took in their last breath soon after.

"We got another man down!" Another soldier cried out. Cassandra, having heard enough bumble of acronyms and number combinations for the day, decided to peek out and face her aggressors.

"ENEMY SPOTTED!" One man screamed before getting put down by a few rounds from her rifle. The Warlock continued gunning down her enemies without remorse, yawning as she realized how bored she was.

The final enemy was crawling away from her, with a wound on his shoulder and a look of fear on his face. An urge came to her...something primal, something that screamed at her to... ** _take_**. Her vision was tinted a crimson red and a voice was whispering in her ear as dark energy swirled in between her fingertips.

The rest was a blur, but the man was gone without a trace.

" _ **I'm done! Got the information you needed.**_ " Mint said.

" ** _Perfect, let's get out of here._** "

/

Russell's ship landed next to Watchpoint Grand Mesa. The cockpit window opened upwards and the Hunter hopped out.

"You sure this place is guarded? Looks pretty empty to me." Russell muttered as he tightly gripped the Ace of Spades, keeping the weapon pointing upwards.

" _ **Supposed to be. Looks like someone went through this place** **already.**_ " Russell nearly tripped over a dead body. " _ **Yep,**_ **y _ou better move._** "

Russell made his way inside the building. " ** _Servers are on the bottom floor, right?_** "

" _ **That is correct**_ _ **.**_ "

The Hunter looked at the pried open elevator doors before jumping down the shaft, double jumping to break his fall.

Someone was definitely in here. The entrance leading to the server floor had been kicked open.

Not to mention the number of bodies that lined the racks of servers.

"What the fuck happened here?" Russell asked to no one in particular. He kneeled down next to a fallen Talon goon. "He was picked clean in the head."

He turned to a server that was whirring its fans out. "Check what the guy took from the servers."

" _ **RAID array's been recently rebuilt...the guy who came in here took...nothing.**_ _"_ The Ghost paused. " _ **Except a file on**_ **you.** "

"What?"

" _ **That's right. They broke into this place to find a document about you.**_ "

"Let's get outta here before they come back."

/

 _A few months later. Detroit, United States._

Cassandra stepped foot into her new apartment in the city of Detroit. It was cheap and aroused mild suspicion, but Russell was in the area, so she put away her thoughts on it.

The Warlock decided to explore the area, walking in the streets with her regular armor that stood out amongst the denizens that littered the streets.

The area was...depressing, to put it shortly. She moved her hand away from a man who reached out a white styrofoam cup with some coins in it, taking some steps to avoid him.

She heard a tussle coming from a dark alleyway nearby. Manly screams and the very distinct sound of bones breaking made its way to her ears. She decided to peek in and saw two big men on the ground crying and mending their broken appendages with a cloaked person running away.

She decided to give chase, but soon lost track of them a few minutes in.

Cassandra huffed in dissatisfaction as she went back to exploring the city.

On her travels that plunged deep in the afternoon and early into the evening, she took notice of a certain audio shop. _Detroit Hi-Fi._

She curiously approached the store, wondering what a shop like this is doing in the middle of a rundown city. Cassandra shrugged her shoulders as she entered the establishment, taking the cloak off her head as the owner greeted her warmly. She replied with a simple wave and a nod.

The walls were made of sound-isolating foam and had headphones lined all over. There were accessories in shelves in rows with employees doing their job in between each row.

The store interested her.

/

Months have passed.

Russell didn't count how many, but Jingles said that today marked his first year on this planet.

So, he had that going for him.

What he didn't have going for him was a somewhat decent lifestyle. The bar he sat in was grimy and the furnishing creaked with every step taken. There was a tussle behind him as Talon-affiliated goons pinned a poor man to a wall and it was hard to ignore the sounds of fists harshly colliding with a person.

Russell tried to avoid looking in the general direction of the beatdown, but he caught himself taking nervous glances. Once it quieted down he could focus on his drink that was sitting turbulently on the bar table, the liquid sloshing about in its glass as nobody could keep still for a second.

Russell blinked as he snapped out of thoughts, realizing that he had been sitting at the bar for quite a while now. He rubbed his wrists and cracked his knuckles as he stood up. The Hunter was not in the happiest of moods right now, as he just realized he spent most of his day at a bar thinking about shit rather than working on his current issue of late rent.

"Hey buddy, you gonna drink?" The bartender asked, scowling. Russell looked back impassively, his thousand-yard stares making the man nervous. "You've been sitting there for a while now."

"Yeah, I was." Russell paused as he patted his pockets. "Fuck, I don't have any money on me right now."

"Buddy you better pay for your drink or you know what happens." The bartender glanced towards the burly security guards and gave a nod. "Your choice."

The two big suited men walked up behind Russell. "There anything I can do that won't lead to violence?" The Hunter asked as he turned towards them.

"Yeah, pay. Fucking dumbass…" The bartender trailed off. "You don't pay, I'll have these guys throw you out and your ass'll be blacklisted at every bar in town."

"Alright fine, I'll leave." Russell mockingly raised his hands and headed towards the exit. A hand grabbed his shoulder. "What now?" He asked, annoyed.

"Oh no, you're coming with us." Russell rolled his eyes and followed the security guards to some dingy exit.

Russell was shoved through the door and found himself in a dark alleyway. "Now what the fuck are you guys doing?"

"Nothing personal, but the boss likes to send a message to non-payers." One of the two men shoved him to a wall. Knuckles were cracked. "This'll hurt. A lot."

The man that pushed him went for a punch but was surprised to see Russell duck and grab his massive arm, twisting it in a way that wasn't natural before breaking it in a swift movement. The man screamed as the bone cracked and was promptly thrown into a wall.

The second man rushed in and met the same fate. Russell jabbed the guy in the stomach and flipped him over, then grabbing hold of a calf and snapping the limb. A loud and painful sounding crack came from it as the man yelled even louder than the last.

The two laid on the ground caressing their wounds, whimpering. There was shuffling coming from the bar, so Russell decided that it would be best to get home.

He noticed someone chasing after him, but he paid no mind as he handily outran them and disappeared into the dense run-down city.

. . .

The flat was cheap and dingy, the exact same thing applying to the surrounding area. It was quiet most of the time and the residents kept to themselves. It served Russell's purposes because no one would look for a former Overwatch agent here.

Now what to do about rent. The owners would certainly not like it if he didn't pay, as this was the third time he was late and he was risking eviction, on top of that his ship was running low on fuel, so he would need to figure out how to get funds to rectify that issue.

"Jingles, bring up whatever jobs I can do, odd-ends, robberies, whatever." Russell said as he locked the door to his flat, then hopping on to the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"Talon-affiliated gangs excluded?" Jingles materialized, and the construct looked at him with his single photoreceptor.

"Included." The Ghost did his thing.

"There's a listing posted by a local gang, call themselves the Soundwave Scythes. They want to rob some rich-boy audio store." Russell cringed at the name before standing up. "They're offering a lot for a sixth man in their group, as their normal one was killed, and apparently that guy was really good."

"Well, guess I can fill some shoes. Do what you need, I'm taking a shower." Russell said as he walked towards the bathroom.

The lights turned on, Russell undressed and hopped in the shower. The hot water pecked at him constantly and put him in a state of inner peace as he took longer and deeper breaths.

He exhaled as his hands rubbed his head, trying to get out the grime that managed to have built up in it.

" _ **You got a meeting in half an hour. They wanna try you out with a smaller store first.**_ " Jingles said through their mental link. " _ **Meet them at that electronics shop on sixth line.**_ "

/

The air was cool as Russell stepped into the suspiciously dark alleyway. The headlights of a car blinded him as they turned on, revealing the vehicle's presence. The car was flanked by five men, who looked at Russell with scrutinizing eyes as they played with their weapons.

"You Dulk?" The one who stood closest to Russell said. The Hunter nodded. "Kinda…extra, don't you think?" He looked to himself, seeing nothing wrong with his navy-blue Wing Contender set.

"Preparing for the worst," Russell replied curtly. "Who knows what can happen."

The men looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "I like you. Let's get this show on the road then."

The group of six walked up to the store. The one at the till paled as he saw them walk in, his eyes darting everywhere. A chime sounded as the door opened.

Russell was the one to stand in front of the cashier as the other five went and looked for whatever they pleased.

The Hunter quietly raised the Ace of Spades as he saw the cashier's hand move under the table. "You press that button and you're dead."

"Get whatever cash is in there and hand it over." He tilted his head towards the cash register. "Keep your hands visible."

The cashier kept one hand raised as he opened the register and stacked whatever bills were in there on the table with the other. "Good. You call the cops, and...I don't need to explain further, do I?" He looked towards his partners. "Let's get outta this dump." Russell grabbed the money.

The group left without a word. They entered the sedan that was supposed to seat five people, squeezing Russell in a bit.

The car sped off.

"You're good." The driver commented. "Really good. We're on our way to the store mentioned in the listing. You keep that up and we'll all get out of here a lot richer."

"That's the plan." Russell chuckled. The car pulled over in front of the designated store.

/

Cassandra shut her eyes as she mellowed out to the soft music that played through the headphones she picked out.

Her eyes opened as she heard the door to the store open, and six men walked in.

One of them being a certain Hunter she was after. The atmosphere changed in tone and she could tell the man in the Wing Contender armor set oozed of a particular confidence that made her weak; whether that confidence was well placed could be debated.

Cassandra decided to feign ignorance and make it seem like she was engulfed in the music, keeping an eye on her target who walked up to a wall of headphones and softly grabbed one of them. An employee walked up to him and started asking some questions.

She wasn't entirely sure if she was staring but a man tapped her shoulder and gestured for her to take off the headphones. Russell's cohorts started attacking the employees and stealing some of the products on display.

The Warlock gently took off the headphones, softly placing them on a table and stared her aggressor down. The thug stepped forward and jabbed his cheap-looking pistol in her face.

"Hey! I said hands up-"

Cassandra grabbed the arm the man was holding the pistol with and twisted it counterclockwise, earning a yelp from him. She pulled the thug closer to her and readied her boot.

The man's eyes went wild and wide as it made contact with his crotch.

She didn't even know it was possible for a man to scream that high of an octave.

The Warlock turned to face Russell, who was pointing his hand cannon, the Ace of Spades, at her.

"You best back off before bad things happen." The Hunter said, with ice in his voice. Everything about his tone made her stomach flutter.

"Oh, really?" Cassandra replied confidently, a smirk formed on her face.

/

Russell pulled the trigger as he saw a weapon materialize on the woman's back. She ducked and unslung the Breakneck auto rifle.

 _Where did she get that?_ Russell wondered, momentarily thinking of stopping the fight to ask her.

Russell took cover behind a shelf as he saw the head of one of his partners get taken off by a burst of the weapon. Another bark from the weapon followed by a cry of pain as another man was put down.

"Damn, she's good," Russell muttered as he peeked and fired in return. The shot landed at the middle of her chest. The Hunter jumped up and rushed the woman, sliding into her as he grabbed a hold of her weapon. She simply batted his head with the butt of her rifle, then threw him to the side. There was another burst from her auto rifle as she took down another one of his partners.

Russell pulled out his knife and jumped on the woman's shoulders, jabbing the blade into her neck. She reacted by flipping him forward, throwing him against a wall of headphones.

The owner cried in anguish as he witnessed the audio devices that were priced in the quadruple digits fall to the floor.

"Really good," Russell muttered as he stood back up, with the Ace of Spades ready. He let off a few shots as another man was sent flying out a window. The woman turned to him and shot him a few times with her firearm before rapidly closing the distance between them with a Warlock Blink.

" _ **Did another Guardian get caught here too?**_ " Russell idly wondered. He threw a punch, but she sidestepped it and hit his head with the butt of a rifle with such force that he fell to the ground.

"I am very sorry about this." The woman said before stomping her foot on his face. Russell parried it with his arms, grabbing onto her boot and then throwing her to the side while he rose back up. He ducked underneath the shelves of the store as bullets were shot in his direction.

"Don't make me hurt you any further!" The woman called out.

The Hunter primed an Incendiary Grenade and threw it at her. "Not a chance!" He replied as he rolled away from the explosion. The woman was burned by the grenade and knocked over the shelf he was hiding behind in response. Russell dodged an elbow that had every right to hit his face before grabbing the appendage and twisting it. The Warlock replied quickly with a palm melee full of Arc energy to his cheek that sent him flying towards the cashier till. The owner of the shop ducked as the Hunter landed on the wall behind him.

Russell quickly caught himself on his feet. "Where the fuck did you learn to do that?" He screamed out towards his opponent.

The woman didn't reply as she quickly rushed him and pinned him to the foam wall, following up with several strikes to his face that knocked him closer to unconsciousness than the last.

The Hunter was in a daze and the world faded to black as he was dropped to the floor. The last thing he saw was the Warlock kneeling over him.

/

Cassandra kneeled over Russell, smiling widely under her helmet. She looked towards the shop owner, then back to her target.

There was still a thug alive outside. The Warlock sighed as she hopped over the shattered window and crouched next to the man, who was doing his best to crawl away from the wicked woman. She grabbed his throat and lifted in the air. Her eyes instinctively shut closed as she felt the same dark power course through her body.

" **TAKE HIM!** " A voice in her head said.

There was a warp, and the man was gone.

Cassandra sighed as she entered the audio shop once more.

"The police will deal with the rest." She said politely to the shop owner before picking Russell up by the shoulder. "He comes with me." She said offhandedly.

The shop owner looked in disbelief as Cassandra left with her lover in tow.

/

Russell slowly woke with a splitting headache. He groaned as he tried to take in his surroundings, but everything was so blurry that he could barely make out anything other than general shapes.

The shape of a woman standing was in front of him. His ears rang as he regained his senses, shaking his head as his vision slowly came back to him.

"You've always been one to get into trouble." The woman's voice was familiar _, really familiar_. There was a light chuckle afterward.

It reminded him of someone.

"Ahh…Russell Dulk. Always me to pick up after your mess, hm?"

"First of all," Russell drawled out, but he couldn't think of a witty enough reply due to his headache and the fact that he did not know what the fuck this woman was talking about. "Nevermind…"

"That's a first from you. Always have something witty to say." The woman said.

"Really?" Russell replied.

There was a giggle. The Hunter's vision was slowly clearing up. He tried moving his body.

"Don't move." The woman said, her voice authoritative.

"Fuck you." He replied as he moved and was instantly shocked. "Ow!"

There was another giggle. "Told you so." There was a tense pause. "You have been…away for a while now, hm?" The woman asked.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Russell muttered as his vision finally cleared up a bit. He shook his head and stared at the woman that stood next to him, her hands clasped over his. She was looking at him with eyes that were a bit too captivated with him.

"Oh no, have you forgotten your past as a Guardian, _already_?" The woman looked concerned. "You've been gone for quite a bit."

"Gone from what?" Russell paused. Then it dawned on him. "Right, that."

She laughed. "Tsk, tsk, Russell. I hope you haven't fallen to the Darkness, have you?"

"Okay, hard times have struck. Gotta do what you gotta do to survive." Russell muttered, averting her gaze. Something about this person was making his heart beat through his chest, and he didn't like that one bit.

The woman cupped Russell's chin and forced him to stare at her. He tried resisting but only got an electric shock as a reward. "Be _still._ " She said, gripping his hand tighter.

"Oh no don't you fucking dare you-" Russell quickly said while resisting despite the Arc energy that stung him. His kidnapper put her other hand behind his head and pushed him to kiss her. He tried breaking free but she held him tight.

Russell felt himself growing weak as this felt oddly familiar. He pulled back, panting. "I'm-I'm taken!" He yelled.

The woman looked mortified. "What!? By who!?"

"By-by-wait..." Russell moved backwards, his back pressing against the cold wall. "That's not...no... _what_?" He said, shocked.

His eyes widened. "No way…I…I killed you." It was definitely her, was it? Rich red hair, diamond blue eyes, small freckles on the cheeks, a small nose that sat perfectly centered on her face. It _couldn't_ be her, could it?

Russell looked at her shocked, unable to form words. The woman's face was flush red as they both stared wordlessly at each other.

She decided to speak first. "Russell...I..." The name rolled off her tongue perfectly, it must have been her.

"Cassandra?" She stepped closer to him, the tips of her hair dragging on his legs. "That's not possible...you're supposed to be dead!"

The woman's kneeled down so they were both head-level, her brows furrowed as she seemed to be thinking. "I'm supposed to be dead..." She repeated lowly.

"Y-yeah..." Russell stuttered, he averted her gaze once more, to avoid her seeing tears. "How long has it been?"

"I don't know, Russell. I don't know." Cassandra whispered as she pulled him in for a hug, his face buried into her shoulder as he sobbed. "However long, I don't care...I'm just happy you're still alive. Everybody thinks you're dead, you know that?" She dryly laughed.

Russell held her tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He kept on repeating.

Cassandra chuckled, patting his head. "It's okay." She muttered.

Russell fell silent a few minutes later, and fell asleep in her arms.

/

 _Lore entry unlocked: The Search for Russell Dulk_

 _Entry 2: Chase after a Warlock_

The Huntress watches with idle interest through the scope of a Supremacy sniper rifle as her new lead, Cassandra Messer idly prowls the Dreaming City. The Warlock looked to have a goal in mind as she was heading in a direction the Huntress did not want her to go.

She was going straight for the Tower of Opened Eyes.

Xiao hops down from her perch and confronts the Warlock.

 _Who are_ _you?_ The Warlock demands, surprised by her sudden appearance.

 _The direction you're headed in is off-limits._ Xiao replies, crossing her arms as a hand cannon appeared on her thigh. _Turn back now._ She adds, taking an offensive stance.

The Warlock hums. _Very well, then._ She turns and quietly paces her way back to the Rheasilvia Patrol Zone.

Xiao asks her Ghost to make a reminder to add this to her report on Cassandra Messer. She watches as the Warlock disappears in the fog, replaced by the warring Scorn and Taken.

The Huntress looks around herself once more, to check if her target hadn't tried anything sneaky. She sees a purple sphere land at her feet.

A Scatter Grenade.

Xiao rolls the other way, temporarily going invisible.

The Warlock blinks upwards to her sniper's nest, scanning for the Huntress' position.

She took cover behind a rock big enough to cover her entire body. She reappears, her blood cold.

Xiao wields her hand cannon and peeks from her position.

/

Guardian Cassandra Messer slowly let Russell down onto the bed, keeping him wrapped up in her arms. Her heart was pounding as she took in everything about him. His smell, his soft look when asleep, his features…all the things she had remembered about him.

She looked at her palm once she let him rest. A white flame came out of it, being put out by her hand clenching into a fist.

She would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

To keep him from leaving her again.

This time, it will last. She will make damn sure of it.

She joined him in bed, keeping her hands on his head as she gently caressed her lover.

He will be with her until the end of time.

/

At 3 AM in the morning, there was a light tapping at the window. Russell was the first to rouse from his slumber as he saw purple accents on the form of a familiar friend behind the curtains.

He mumbled curses as he sat up and turned to face the curtained window. Cassandra held tightly onto his arm, preventing him from fully standing up. He managed to coax himself out of her grip but at the cost of her waking up.

"Hm?" She said as her eyes opened. "Russell…it's three in the morning, what are you doing up?" She muttered as her face buried itself into the pillow.

"A contact needs to talk to me. She normally isn't the one to seek me out." Russell whispered in reply, separating the curtains which revealed Sombra, who waved with a confident smirk on her face.

"She?" Cassandra replied, looking towards the window. "Who's she?"

Russell slid the window open. "I'll meet you at the front of the building in a couple of minutes." He whispered, Sombra nodded before the window was closed.

"Yeah, she's an enigmatic one." Russell paused. "It's been a while since I've talked to her. Must be something important."

"Could I accompany you?" Cassandra asked, stretching her arms. "To get acquainted, of course."

"…I guess. We'll see how it plays out." Russell replied, headed for the doorway. "I'll be at the front door."

Cassandra nodded in response.

Russell made his way towards the front door of Cassandra's flat, which was a tiny bit better than his, but still had the same mood. He turned the knob to the door and stepped into the hallway of the apartment, then headed towards the staircase, which led to the front door of the building.

Sombra was there waiting for him, leaning on a truck and looking at her nails. Instead of the regular red accents, they were now purple but the outfit was still the same.

"Like the new color," Russell commented as he put a hand on his hip. "So, what brings you here?" Cassandra quietly walked up and stood beside him.

"I got a job for you." Sombra paused. "Big money's involved, and I managed to sneak some fuel for your ship."

Russell's eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Go on."

"South Korean businessman is pissing in Talon's water bowl. They don't like that, and he got wind about it and locked himself up in some high-security mansion. We need a guy to go in and put him down." Sombra pointed a finger gun at Russell, silently mouthing a _pow_ as she pulled the finger upwards. "You're the perfect guy."

"Really?" The hacker nodded in response. "Well, that's nice to hear, but…"

"You want a spot for your girlfriend over there?" She looked towards Cassandra, who scowled. "Hey, come on, I don't bite."

"Could you find another person? We need some time together." Cassandra softly replied, but the pressure she put on Russell's shoulder, indicated that she was not happy.

Russell elbowed her hip, which shut her up. "I'll do it. Provided she can come along too."

"Sure, as long as she isn't detrimental," Sombra smirked as she looked at Cassandra, who glared in return.

"She's even better than me. We'll get the job done, right Cass?" Russell looked towards his girlfriend, who forced a smile.

"Of course." She lightly said.

"Great, a private jet headed to South Korea is waiting for you, I'll send you a location." Sombra smiled before disappearing.

Russell sighed. "You really had to look at her like that?"

"Come on, is the only thing you do around here is get into unnecessary violence?" Cassandra replied, frustrated. "Could you at least have taken a week break so we could reconcile?"

"Look…my situation is a bit complicated right now." Russell stopped himself. "Things…never seem to settle."

Cassandra sighed, then grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look her straight in the eyes. She kept uneasy amounts of eye contact. "Fine, whatever it is, I'll be here for you." She paused. "We'll have to get to know each other in battle then." She smiled as her head slowly closed the distance between the two. Their foreheads met.

"We'll be unstoppable." She huskily said. "One day…we can retreat into a peaceful life." She whispered into his ear.

A kiss caught Russell off guard as he was pressed against a wall. Their lips separated as Cassandra headed inside the apartment building.

"Are you coming?" She called out.

Russell hurried after her.

/

 _Nine hours later. South Korea, Busan._

Russell crouched at the clifftop that overlooked the massive semi-underground mansion that belonged to the famous Song family. Criminal ties and charitable ventures pretty much summarized the owner. It was more like a castle rather than a mansion.

Tons of open space between all the main buildings. At the middle center on the compound, there was a glass dome that sported a sanatorium that seemed to be packed with plants and trees. On the east part were the barracks for the security guards that were from some company known as Helix Security International. The west seemed to be entertainment and sports, indicated by the outdoor courts for a wide variety of sports. On the south side was the official entrance that was heavily guarded and barricaded by military vehicles. Finally, on the north end of the compound were the living quarters of the Song family.

Russell handed Cassandra his Fate Cries Foul. "You keep an eye out and pick off anybody that might see me."

"Be careful out there." Cassandra gave Russell one last kiss on the cheek before his helmet materialized over his head.

" _ **Jingles, find me the guards' patrol routes,**_ " Russell asked.

" _ **Got them.**_ " Jingles replied. Lines of varying colors traced the pathways of the compound.

"I'll be back in an hour. If not, you can barge in, kill anyone in your path. Except for the kid, bring that one to the police." Russell nodded to his girlfriend before jumping down onto the roof of the north building, breaking his fall with a double jump.

A distant crack was heard from above and a body slumped on the catwalk that surrounded the building.

"I got him," Cassandra said.

" _ **You're clear to enter. That seems to be the only outside guard.**_ " Jingles informed.

Russell hopped down onto the metal catwalk, and pressed his hands on a glass window, sliding it upwards before climbing into a room.

Inside was a girl, no more than twelve years old, sleeping in a bed that was way too big for her.

Since when did children deserve king-sized beds?

Russell quietly shut the window and let his foot touch the floor as soundlessly as he could.

Except, the child only had her eyes closed and wasn't sleeping. It was two in the morning and this kid still wasn't asleep.

" _ **The actual fuck?**_ " Russell thought as he stared at the child wordlessly. " _ **Why the fuck is a twelve-year-old still up at this time?**_ "

" _ **You ask me.**_ " Jingles said. " _ **I don't even understand half of what humans do.**_ "

"Uh," Russell whispered. "Why are you still up?"

"Was gaming." The child meekly replied. "Who are you?"

"Uh…just a guy that needs to talk to your dad."

"Why did you sneak into my room to do that then?"

"Uh…" Before he could think of a response he went for the door and as quickly as he pried it open it shut behind him.

An alarm was pulled, and the entire compound was consumed by an extremely loud tone that went progressively higher in pitch, resetting after the peak value.

"Russell, I don't know what you did, but you better move. I see our target moving. Do you want me to take the shot?" Cassandra asked for their radio line.

"No, I got this. Take out anyone chasing me." Russell muttered as he dashed his way towards their target.

He went down a few flights of stairs and jumped through a window, throwing himself in the cool night air as his eyes locked onto his target. In a quick movement he pulled out the Ace of Spades and fired a few shots at the guards that surrounded his objective mid-air, before landing on his feet with a thud.

The guards dropped dead as the famous Song businessman stood to face his eventual doom.

"You pissed off some pretty bad people." Russell started, waving his hand cannon around. "Employer won't tell me what but it's probably pretty bad, considering _I_ was sent to take you out. Can you believe it, me?"

"And who would you be? Working for Talon? Of course."

"You just answered your own question, friend." Russell snarked. "Any last words? Requests?"

"Let me at least die holding my daughter." The man looked past Russell. Behind the Hunter was the child whose room he broke into. The girl was holding a pink bunny plushie and looking at the two of them with scared eyes.

"Alright, I'll give you that." Russell let the man walk to his daughter, whilst keeping his gun trained on him. The man crouched and hugged his child, looking at Russell with defiant eyes.

"Do it." The man spat as his stare bored holes in the Hunter. Russell looked to the side a bit.

A clang echoed, and the man slumped over, blood pouring out of his forehead.

Russell turned away before he could see what the child did afterward.

"I'm sorry." He said before running away as he could hear several footsteps on fast approach.

He fled the building with a fancy sports car and some regrets.

/

"Holy shit by the Traveler I have done something bad," Russell muttered as he buried his face into his hands. "In front of the fucking kid too!"

A reassuring hand grabbed his shoulder. "There, there." Cassandra cooed. "As you said, hard times. You have to do what you must."

"I have a feeling that's gonna bite me in the ass," Russell muttered. "She's obviously going to be pissed about it." He fell into Cassandra's arms.

"Let's change the subject. How's Jingles?" Cassandra asked cheerfully, Jingles materialized a second later. "Oh, I haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?" She dragged a few fingers on the Ghost's shell.

"I've been doing pretty good, been keeping Russell in check." The contraption nudged Russell in the head. "Trying to get him out of as much trouble as possible."

"You seem to be doing just fine in my opinion." Cassandra laughed.

"Hah, you barely could keep him in check, how do you think I'm doing?" Jingle's photoreceptor rolled. "Where's Mint? Is she still, well, herself?"

A mint-green Ghost covered in branches and leaves appeared. "I see you haven't changed." The Ghost flew close to Jingles. "I like the color, festive."

"Yep! Was trying to cheer Russell up when he had his episodes of moping about-" A hand grabbed Jingles and the little Light's voice was muffled.

"Shut up, shut up, and shut up!" Russell screamed at the contraption as he wrestled with it. "You're embarrassing me!" He said.

"Oh, come on, you two did the deed at three AM in the morning, only a couple hours after a heart-felt reconciliation. I don't think you have any reason to be embarrassed." Mint's photoreceptor rolled. Cassandra softly smiled and put a hand on Russell's shoulder.

"You can be honest with me, it's okay." The Warlock said softly, causing Russell to let go of his Ghost. "I won't shame you." Her smile was bright and genuine.

Russell leaned his head onto Cassandra's shoulder. "Cassie, I...really, really, missed you." He muttered before sighing.

"Come, let's get ourselves some food. To take our minds off things."

/

 _Somewhere on Earth._

"Is anyone there!? Hello!?" Russell screamed into his radio device as he let off another shot of the Ace of Spades, taking down a Taken Hive Thrall. He recoiled his head back to cover as a bullet pinged off the edge of the wall he took cover in.

Another one of that ungodly scream that was heard as more Taken warped in, followed by a wicked giggle.

" **Oh, Russell...** " The demonic voice cooed. " **Show yourself.** "

Russell raised his weapon and pointed it towards the Darkness.

/

Russell woke with a scream. He frantically patted down his surroundings, only hitting the hard springy mattress. In a panic, he jerked his head side-to-side, to verify if what he just saw was indeed real. His breathing was quick and short.

Cassandra burst into the room wearing nothing but a sports bra and tight shorts. "Is everything alright!?" She urgently asked.

Russell slowed down his breathing and collapsed onto the bed. "Fucking nightmares..."

The Warlock sat next to him and locked their hands together. "If you need to tell me anything..."

"I'm fine. Just regular ol' nightmares haha." Russell scratched the back of his head nervously. "Everything's fine."

Cassandra frowned. "If you say so." She sighed. "I'm here for you, Russell. If you need someone to lean on...I'm here." Her lips approached his forehead as she placed a kiss on it.

"Breakfast is ready." The Warlock said before leaving.

* * *

 **Leave a review. State your thoughts. Might be bumping the rating to M next chapter. Merry belated Christmas ya'll.**

 **Don't worry I haven't forgotten about my other story. I'll get to that later. Hopefully.**

 **Edit 2: This one was a biggie, whoo.**


	6. The Hunt

_The Leviathan, Nessus Orbit, a long time ago...  
_

Warlock Cassandra Messer crouched with her spore absorber, huddling with three other members of Fireteam Jellybean. The name was randomly chosen for them, despite her complaints.

"I think we have enough spores…" Fireteam member Russell Dulk whispered as he put down the plant and took out a shotgun. "We can take the dogs down-" The Hunter was interrupted as one of the 'Dogs' – specially bred Cabal War Beasts – snapped to the group of four's direction. The beast growled as it set its eyes on Cassandra.

The Warlock, too stunned to react, dropped her plant and stood in shock as the Beast lunged at her. A flaming bullet hit it mid-air, followed by two more as the beast was thrown into a rock.

"Princess, you better do something!" Russell said as he rushed the being with his shotgun, blasting it a few times with a few pumps. "Can't just stand there with your thumb up your ass!"

Cassandra scowled and grumbled as she aided him in his beat down of the War Beast, choosing to assist from a distance with her SUROS Regime, an heirloom of her family. She had had enough of the snarky and crude Hunter and wanted nothing else than to stay away from him.

The Dog started howling and was quickly put down. The entire fireteam rushed to the airlock, as it meant certain death if anyone stayed outside.

The Warlock blinked herself up and gracefully entered the airlock, landing on her two feet.

"Incoming!" The Hunter's voice called out as the man practically dived into the chamber just in time, his boots nearly getting caught in the hatch mechanism. Russell then crashed onto the Warlock.

"Get off!" Cassandra cried out as she damn near threw him off her.

"Whoops!" The man lightheartedly said as he dusted himself off afterward.

"Such a brute…" Cassandra muttered as she patted herself of any dirt that could have gotten onto her beautifully woven cloak.

"Same pairs, this is our third and final chance, let's make it count." Fireteam leader McAllan said as he hopped up above the airlock hatch to grab one of the two pearls up-top.

Cassandra grumbled curses as she grabbed the spore absorber offered to her.

"First spores are on the left side."

The group of four huddled up once more and quietly headed out the airlock.

/

 _Earth._

It had been a few weeks since Cassandra and Russell met, and life had been pure bliss…but something felt missing. Both knew it. Intimacy was all there, but there was a missing piece of their relationship puzzle.

"Action, gunfights, explosions!" Russell said, accompanying with sound effects. "We need more of those."

Cassandra laughed and patted her boyfriend on the shoulder. "Perhaps…we're just missing the adrenaline. You remember when we boarded the Leviathan?"

"Oh yeah, that was definitely an experience." Russell stretched his arms. "We got lost half-way through trying to find those hidden treasure chests and Calus wasn't happy that we were really late for his next event…the runner...I think?"

"Oh please, _you_ got lost." Cassandra retorted. Russell mockingly put on a face of mild offense. "We were on our way to the next challenge and you just wandered off."

"I saw a chest! There could've been an exotic engram!" Russell argued back in good humor.

"And what did you get? The exact same helmet you were wearing?"

"It was worth a shot y'know…" Cassandra lightly punched him in the shoulder as she could barely suppress her laughter.

The Warlock walked up to the fridge, opening it and seeing nothing except for some eggs and bread. "Did we not go out to get food?"

"Uh…" Russell turned towards her. "Maybe? I don't know."

Cassandra rolled her eyes and closed the fridge door, turning towards Russell. "Then we'll have to go out somewhere for lunch."

Russell stretched once more and stood up, casual clothing materializing on him. "Then let's go get something then." He said, turning towards the door.

Cassandra's clothes materialized on her and out they were.

. . .

On the way to the closest fast food joint, an apologetic and nervous looking man approached Russell and shoved a letter to his stomach.

"Don't get letters too often these days…" Russell muttered as he tore open the envelope, giving a glance in front of him in case anyone was there. He unfolded the paper and read the contents.

 _Talon are interested for you to occupy a full-time position in our organization. Meet at the coordinates below:_

The coordinates were to a hotel nearby. Russell showed the letter to Cassandra.

"What do you think?" He asked, yawning afterwards.

The Warlock crumpled the piece of paper and threw it to the ground. "No need to be in a criminal organization when we have each other." She firmly said. "We should be relaxing, not taking up arms."

Russell chuckled at the response. "You're definitely the Cassandra I remember." He said. "Always lookin' for some time together."

"Is there something wrong with that?" The Warlock snapped at him.

"No! Not at all." Russell replied hurriedly. "...Until duty calls."

"Duty?" Cassandra's eyebrow raised. "What duty could you possibly have here?"

"Guardian of Humanity and all that, y'know?" Russell replied. "Can't be slacking off cause the Darkness ain't here, right?"

Cassandra paled a bit.

"Cassie? You alright?" Russell stopped and looked at her. "Uh…you there?" He waved in front of her, getting no response.

Cassandra snapped out of her daze. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Uh…nothing." Russell said before they both went quiet.

They both entered the fast food restaurant, placed their orders at the kiosk and awkwardly sat down together at a table. Their food was delivered by drones that plopped the unhealthy food on their table.

"Well if it ain't the boogieman himself." A voice with a western accent said from beside them. "Been causin' a lot of trouble 'round these parts I've heard."

"McCree, what the Hell are you doing here?" Russell asked, facing the cowboy who had his feet propped up on a table and was smoking a cigar. "You stand out like a sore thumb."

"'Course I do." McCree replied, puffing a cloud of smoke. "You stand out even more."

"Yeah, well…" Russell stopped himself, then exhaled. "Tell me, what in God's name do you want with me?"

"Just lettin' you know that a hit was placed on ya." The cowboy paused.

Russell reached for his revolver. Cassandra reached for a sidearm.

"I'm not here to collect." The Hunter eased up, but the Warlock didn't. "Just needed to tell you to duck."

"Now." Russell instinctively threw himself under a table as a bullet flew above his head. "Talon were waitin' on you to accept their invitation. They saw your girl over here crumplin' it up and throwin' it out like it was trash. Weren't happy about it of course."

The cowboy stood up and unbuttoned his holster. "We're fightin' outta this place."

Russell sighed as he grabbed his burger in one hand and the Ace of Spades in the other. "Guess I gotta eat while fighting." He took a bite.

A good majority of the patrons inside the restaurant stood up and pulled out weaponry of various sizes; although they were mostly large.

There was a moment of standstill as everyone stared at each other with guns drawn.

Cassandra made the first move as she pistol-whipped one of the Talon goons and put a few rounds in their head. Russell ducked and threw a grenade towards a group of enemies, peeking after the ensuing explosion. McCree rolled and threw a flashbang before firing six shots into six Talon henchmen.

Russell leapt over a table and threw three knives in an arc, hitting three people before rushing a man and turning him towards Cassandra, who shot a few bullets into his chest. Throwing down his victim he smacked a man who rushed him with the barrel of the Ace of Spades, then giving him a bullet to taste.

"Whoa!" Russell ducked once more as the unknown sniper took more shots at him. He'd had his fair share of long-range engagements with fellow Guardians, but this guy was a wicked shot. Of course, the Hunter didn't worry too much but it was starting to get annoying.

He was blindsided by a man with a baton. Cassandra heard the impact and immediately stopped what she was doing. She tackled the big bulky man who rushed him, and snarled as she took the baton from the terrorist's hand, savagely beating him with it. At first there were cries of pain but then nothing as she continued beating the dead man until his head was nothing more than a pile of flesh.

Russell shook her off the corpse. "Chill out there!" He wiped some of the blood that splattered on her face, and there was a brief moment where he admired her blood-covered visage. "We have people to-" The Hunter was interrupted by a sniper rifle shot straight to his chest.

His shield sustained it, but now he was pissed.

"Alright, that's it." He muttered as the Fate Cries Foul replaced the Ace of Spades. The Hunter turned around and scoped in, scanning the dense buildings for his sniper.

" _ **Construction site, on the crane. The big one.**_ " Russell looked up to the massive crane, and saw his sharpshooter. As soon as his scope was on the sniper, the trigger was pulled.

The person dived off the crane and grappled to a nearby building, using the momentum to bounce off the building and then grapple to another building and swinging themself straight to the window he was behind.

"Oh shit." Russell muttered as a boot met his face.

As soon as he was hit, the sniper was gone, and a helicopter could be heard leaving the area. Russell barged out the front door to give chase, but it was already too far to effectively damage.

"Damn, my face." The Hunter said as he rubbed his precious face, grimacing as he pressed on spots that already formed bruises. "Fuck that was a good kick."

"Well, that was a nice fight." McCree said as he stood beside Russell. "Nice seein' that you're still kicking. Unfortunately, I can't be stayin' 'round these parts any longer."

"Where are you headed?" Russell asked.

"Back to my environment. The wild, wild, west." The cowboy paused. "I'm just playin' with ya. I'll be hoppin' on a train to Houston."

"Guess I'll see you around sometime?" The Hunter chuckled. "Jeez, look at us, talking like we're friends."

McCree rolled his eyes. "I'll see ya around." Then took off.

Russell watched the cowboy run off in the distance.

"So…now what?" Cassandra asked from beside him.

"I dunno. Let's go find something to do, I guess." Russell paused. "Exploring, I guess?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "We'll find an activity along the way."

. . .

"Hey, what the Hell happened at that fast food joint?" Sombra's voice injected during their mostly quiet walk.

Cassandra already had a sidearm and was pointing it at the hacker behind them. "Whoa, you're fast." Sombra commented, then plugged the hole of the firearm with her index finger.

"Speak." The Warlock said, pulling her weapon back.

"Jeez, I thought we were friends…" The hacker said in fake sadness. Russell gently lowered the weapon. "Thanks, Russell." She flashed a grin towards the Hunter, who rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, like I was saying…the Hell happened?" Sombra put a hand on her hip. "You guys just tore up the place!"

"Well, we kinda had to." Russell replied. "They attacked us first."

"Yeah, I could see that." Sombra paused. "Did you…not accept that invitation?"

Russell shook his hand and tilted it towards Cassandra. "Ask her."

"We don't…deal with criminal organizations." The Warlock firmly stated. "At least not when it doesn't benefit us."

Sombra laughed. "I like how you think, sister."

"Don't call me that."

"Okay, jeez." She lightly raised her hands. "Anyways, just wanted to let you two know that you're on Talon's shitlist now. Bye!"

Before Russell could say anything, the hacker woman disappeared.

"I really do not like her." Cassandra said.

"I know you don't."

"Come, let's go do something."

"Right-o."

/

 _Watchpoint Saigon, Vietnam_

Genji Shimada, former Blackwatch cyborg ninja, walked the hallways of abandoned Watchpoint Saigon. He had heard reports of supernatural beings warping into the surrounding area and warping away with anyone that was unfortunate enough to be taken. According to several eye-witnesses, a black…sphere was hovering above the Watchpoint, seemingly not doing anything. An aura of darkness emitted from it.

The ninja had deduced that this was the source of this supernatural threat.

He fiddled with a shuriken in between his fingers, his sharp eyes scanning the area for any of the beings. A door slid open, revealing an open littered with broken down vehicles and furniture. Peppered along the walls and floor were little…blotches of darkness. Random objects floated above these pits.

Genji would avoid these blotches, as he felt a dull feeling overcome him once he got anywhere close.

Unfortunately, these black and white-starred spots were quite literally everywhere.

He had a very bad feeling about this.

His head turned to a small pitter-patter on a railing above him. An entirely black humanoid figure with a trail of white following it stood there. It had a weapon in its hands.

"…Who are you?" Genji asked the figure.

There was a roar as a big blemish blotch of darkness appeared and several dark skeletal figures with legs that glowed white and each having a single orb of light on their heads. Their claws glowed orange. They all screeched in unison before rushing Genji.

The figure above quickly disappeared.

Genji threw three shurikens, taking down two of the beings that rushed him before jumping up and landing behind them before they could pile up on him. Another three projectiles took down three more before Genji jabbed one more with his sword, making it warp away into nothingness.

The rest of the dark beings howled a discordant song, stood on their thin feet before warping away in portals of darkness.

Genji turned behind him to see a bigger portal. Something called out to him from the gateway, beckoning him to enter.

Against his instinct, he stepped inside the dark portal, throwing himself into a realm of darkness where a dark wind blew against him.

The ground beneath him was floating and the path forward was shattered in pieces, meaning he had to practice his parkour. The ninja took a deep breath before cautiously walking past a wide-open gateway and jumped onto a broken piece of floating land. Once he landed a floating multi-faceted construct with a single blue eye in the middle appeared before him.

"You're not supposed to be here." The construct said. "You gotta get out of here quick before Cassandra sees you."

"Who is Cassandra?" Genji asked. "And where is this place?"

"Just get out. No time to explain." One of those dark swirling portals appeared behind Genji. "Go. Or else you'll be facing certain death, or worse, Taken."

" **Who are you** **?** " An overly sweet feminine voice boomed overhead. " **Come forward.** "

A figure appeared at the end of the broken pathway, it watched with apparent interest as it stood there.

Genji turned back towards the figure, then glanced back at the portal.

The construct nudged his head, in direction of the exit. "Go, get out of here."

Genji sighed, took one last look at the figure who was waiting expectantly, before stepping into the dark portal and back into reality.

His breath had been stolen from him, he collapsed onto his knees, supporting himself with his hands.

What was that?

/

 _Somewhere in Mexico._

Sombra twirled and kicked a police officer down, landing gracefully as she threw her teleporter into an open window.

More police were on their way, and the hacker really didn't want to bother with them. She teleported into a dilapidated house, looking behind her as police sirens sounded from afar, progressively getting closer. Soon enough a few law enforcement vehicles pulled up onto the street she just occupied a few seconds ago.

Sombra was about to leave, until she heard what sounded like a lion's roar from the street below her. The police officers screamed something as they started firing bullets all at the same time. Curiosity got the best of her, and she peeked down below.

A being in black skeletal armor with white accents was currently battling with the police. It roared once as it shot a puddle of…something which landed on one of the police officers, consuming the poor man in a warp of darkness.

Another being warped into existence. This time it was more of a humanoid figure with a cloak, the person had a rifle in their hands and walked up to the officers that were crawling due to their injuries.

"Hold on…" Sombra took a better look at the person, identified it as a woman and when her face crossed the hacker's line of sight…

"Cassandra?" She muttered, putting a hand on the window frame as she curiously saw what Russell's girlfriend did.

Cassandra walked up to one of the police officers, grabbed them by the neck and made the man disappear in a warp. She repeated the action with whoever was left.

" **Perfect…** " The woman's voice sounded like her regular counterpart but more…twisted and dark.

A dark portal silently opened. The armored being and Cassandra entered it, disappearing from reality.

Sombra hopped down from her building and walked up to the portal. She bit her lip as her mind was occupied with a single question.

Sombra took a deep breath and made her decision as she jumped in and landed in the other side.

The hacker ended up in some sort of dark realm, where an overwhelming wind was blowing from the side.

She was in a circle surrounded by broken pillars of what seemed to be marble. At the center of the area was a throne room which was occupied by…

"Mierda." Sombra muttered as she drew her Uzi at Cassandra, who looked at her with an unimpressed gaze.

" **You're too predictable, always wanting to know more.** " The woman said, she drew an assault rifle from her back. " **You know that I really do not like you.** "

"I can tell." Sombra curtly replied, quietly gulping. "For what reason, though? What'd I do to you?"

Cassandra paused. " **I have my reasons.** " The woman raised her assault rifle. " **You know what's going to happen when I pull this trigger.** "

Sombra gulped as the arm carrying her SMG started shaking out of nervousness. " **Are you…scared?** " Cassandra laughed.

Sombra tried to seem confident, but she was entirely scared. " **Don't worry.** "

" **This'll hurt. A lot.** " Sombra shut her eyes tight as her grip on her weapon was too loose so she dropped it. Awaiting the trigger pull from the other person, there was nothing. She cautiously opened her eyes again, to see Cassandra talking to a floating multi-edged object.

"… **Fine.** " The woman turned to the hacker. " **Go, leave. You get to live another day.** "

A portal opened behind Sombra. " **But if I see you talking to Russell again…** "

She jumped through the portal before Cassandra finished her sentence.

Now she was back in Mexico, missing a gun.

Sombra swore to herself as she ran as far away as she could from whatever that was, hoping it wouldn't follow her. Hoping Cassandra wouldn't follow her.

She was now officially frightened by this woman.

/

Russell grumpily awoke as he felt Cassandra lightly shaking him, whilst repeating something. "Cass it's early can we do this later…" The Hunter muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

"Come on, get up! I need to show you something!" Cassandra eagerly said as she continued tugging on his arm. "I promise it's worth it."

Once Russell's vision cleared, Cassandra covered his eyes with a hand, holding it firmly shut. "Uh, what's happening?"

A whoosh sound, followed by a thump.

Cassandra uncovered his eyes.

In front of him lay a _big_ sniper rifle.

By big, it was _big,_ approximately the same size and even longer than the Thunderlord. It looked distinctly…Taken. Like someone dipped it in a Taken blight and froze it. The barrel of the weapon was white and had protruding fragment edges while the rest was distinctly in the Taken style, with that black hole aesthetic and unshakeable feeling of desperation.

It felt like he was holding a Taken vortex.

"Whoa." Was the only thing Russell could say. "Wow, that's a big gun."

"So, what do you think of it?" Cassandra eagerly asked.

Russell lifted the sniper rifle, surprised at how light it was considering its size. He rotated it around, inspecting the minute details of the weapon. "It's…nice." He said.

The weapon whispered to him.

" _ **Do not be revolted. There are parasites that may benefit the host…teeth sharper than your own.**_ " A deep, booming voice said from inside Russell's head. " _ **Wield me and use me to test your foe.**_ "

The Hunter shuddered, something was off about the gun. " _ **I am the Whisper of the Worm…**_ "

"Russell? Does the weapon not…" Cassandra asked.

"It's great, can't wait to try it out." Russell replied. "I swear it just talked to me. Creepy."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I had to jump into a Taken portal and…" Cassandra bit her lip. "Nevermind that, I hope you enjoy it."

"Aw…thanks, Cass." Russell said as he pulled his girlfriend in for a hug. "I really appreciate the effort you…wait. Taken portal? Where?" The Hunter's brows furrowed as he looked at Cassandra questioningly.

"Oh! Uh, that was when I was still back on our…timeline. On Io." Russell's expression relaxed at the answer.

"Oh, then that makes things easier." Russell paused. "Thanks. I really love it."

/

 _Nessus Orbit, the Leviathan_

"Say…what is this stuff?" Russell Dulk asked as he picked up a handful of the dark-purple goop that practically composed the area they were in. "Seems…gross."

"According to my map…" Fireteam Leader McAllan paused. "We're in waste disposal."

"Oh my fucking-" The crude Hunter then flung the goop back to its massive pile. "Fucking gross! Could've said something before I picked it up!?" He shook his hands to get rid of the purple waste.

"You smell terrible." Cassandra could barely contain a condescending laugh. "Although it isn't much worse than your normal odor." She quipped.

Russell put his palm to his chest and looked offended, his mouth agape. "Really? Princess? I thought we were friends!"

Cassandra snorted at the proposition. "You? Please, don't make me laugh."

"Jeez, well I'm sorry, princess." Russell's arm grips changed to another set.

"Stop calling me princess." Cassandra snapped back.

"Okay, princess."

Cassandra grumbled and her teeth clashed together as she raised her hand at the Hunter. "I swear to the Traveler that you will not exist after I am done with you."

McAllan glared at the Warlock. "Be gentle, we have a Cabal emperor to eliminate."

Cassandra's hand balled up into a fist before she lowered her arm, putting on a gentle, albeit a bit stiff, smile. "Yes, sir. We should move." She exhaled in exasperation.

/

 _Lore entry unlocked: Russell Dulk, a student of Cayde-6_

 _Entry 4: Cassandra Messer, lover and eternal best friend._

 _When we first met, when McAllan was assembling a team to board the Leviathan, I despised him. I really did. Everything about him at the time I despised. Every single fiber of my being was urging me to pummel him into submission. That cocky attitude, snarky comebacks, I thought he was trying too hard to imitate the Cayde-Six._

 _Of course, I was devastated when I had a very long list of missions to do with him. Apparently McAllan thought that we 'meshed well together'._

 _'What a joke,' was what I thought at the time. However, I was able to put up with him aboard the Leviathan, so it wouldn't have been too bad, right?  
_

 _I begrudgingly fought with him, and did practically everything with him._

 _He's absolutely horrible at the Crucible, by the way. It astonishes me how incompetent he was when facing fellow Guardians._

 _Anyways, it wasn't all bad. He was a lot quieter when we were doing our tasks together. Although there was the occasional snarky response, I could bear him. It went well; our success rate was around a ninety-five percent…? I think. That one mission we weren't successful at I think he had to pull me back from certain death at the hands of a Taken Knight._

 _Afterwards…he asked me out, with much fanfare at that. After warming up to him a bit, l swallowed my pride and said yes._

 _I like to think that it was a sound decision._

/

" _ **Great…you're alone.**_ " Jingles materialized in front of Russell. "There's something wrong with Cassandra and her Ghost."

"What do you mean by that?" Russell replied in between chews of his sandwich. "You notice something I don't?"

"That's exactly it." Jingles paused as the Ghost turned towards the door. "There's something off with her Light. It feels…ominous."

"You need to be calibrated or something? That sounds crazy." Russell said as he threw away the wrapper. "There something wrong with you?"

"No…just watch out, Russell." Russell rolled his eyes.

"Come on, you're just being paranoid." The Hunter nudged his Ghost. "You probably need to get some action going through your circuitry."

"That doesn't even make-" Jingles was forcefully dematerialized.

Russell grabbed his brand-new sniper rifle and headed out the door.

/

 _Lore entry unlocked: The Search for Russell Dulk_

 _Entry 4: Losing a Warlock_

The Huntress lets out a few shots from her hand cannon, hitting near the Warlock. She rolls to the side, evading a burst from an auto rifle.

The Warlock blinks away and makes a sprint for the Tower of Opened Eyes. Xiao gives chase.

Their chase was long and strenuous, both sides taking occasional shots to each other.

The Warlock throws down a grenade, clouding the only walkable pathway to the tower in smoke and lightning. Xiao pushes through and hears the cries of the two Awoken Corsairs guarding the entrance. A burst from an auto rifle follows, and two bodies fall.

The Huntress hacks as she makes it up the dirt path, and continued her chase.

The Warlock seemed to know the Tower from inside out, as she took shortcuts Xiao never even knew existed.

The pursuit endures throughout the entire complex, only stopping room before Riven's chamber.

The Huntress watches in shock as the Warlock is standing in the chute that descends into the Ahamkara's cell, smiling smugly as she tauntingly waves.

Xiao can only watch as she loses her target. She dials Ikora.

 _Ikora, Cassandra's broken through to Riven's chamber. I need a full fireteam ASAP!_ She barks into her radio.

 _Xiao, we can't send anyone in just yet. Let her_ go. Ikora calmly replies.

Xiao gives a dejected sigh as she sits herself down on the glossy floor made out of a marble material.

/

 _ **Eight years pass.**_

"Strike-One to Vanguard, we have confirmed landing. We're still alive."

" _Perfect. Task Force…Jellybean? Why does it say Jellybean? Did we not reset the name generator yesterday?_ " Titan Crow giggled. Zavala on the other side sighed. " _We'll deal with that later. Your objective is of dire importance."_

"We're after Cassandra Messer." Hunter Zhen said as she hopped out of her ship.

"Yes _._ " Ikora said. " _She is an extremely dangerous fighter and is well capable of taking you all on at once._ " The Vanguard Warlock paused. " _She will be most likely assisted by Hunter Russell Dulk, try and establish contact with him first before you move any further. If you cannot reason with him, your secondary objective would be to either capture or eliminate him._ "

"Russell Dulk? Wasn't he the long-gone Cayde-Six's apprentice?" Titan Crow asked as his helmet, materialized on him.

" _Yes, he is extremely dangerous. Good luck, fireteam._ " Zavala said before shutting the line.

"Shoot, looks like we got ourselves two big targets to bag." Titan Crow said as he cracked his neck and knuckles. "Job just for us."

"You always say that, Mark." Zhen replied. "Russell's a tough nut to crack. Was one of the few who put up a decent fight against me in Gambit."

Xiao Zhen, number one Crucible fighter and a hardened war veteran. A hard character, but those under her tutelage have said that she was more like a mother. Easily irritated and angered, she was known for her ruthlessness in organized, and unorganized combats.

"We got contact." Warlock Edgar Malcolm, hero of the Red War, said as he readied the _Polaris Lance_ and aimed it towards a blue light that looked passively at them. Quiet, the Warlock tapped a finger on the trigger guard of his rifle, squinting as he aimed into the blue light.

Zhen unholstered _Malfeasance_ , the hand cannon meant to replace _Thorn_ , and pointed the weapon at the blue light.

"Identify yourself." She said firmly, moving her index finger ever so slowly close to the trigger. "You have three seconds."

A few inquisitive beeps came from the light.

A small yellow bird then flew at Xiao and landed on her hand cannon. It chirped a positive tune as its head flicked around curiously.

"The Hell?"

A hulking blocky Vex-looking robot stepped out with slow, heavy steps. It looked at them curiously as it tilted its head to the side.

"Hello?" Titan Mark Crow waved at the robot. "You there?"

The robot beeped some positive beeps.

"Guess he's friendly." The Titan raised his finger, and the yellow bird that flew onto _Malfeasance_ flew to the appendage. "Aw, look at you, brave little one!" The Titan said in a baby-voice.

Zhen rolled her eyes at the display of childishness. "What is this?" She asked as she approached the robot. It beeped a few more times.

" _ **It's sending a message to me in…binary.**_ " Xiao's Ghost, the aptly named Mac said through their mental link. " _ **It said that you guys are the first living things he saw in a while.**_ "

"So…is it friendly?" Xiao asked.

" _ **I think so. Hold on, I'm detecting life signatures in airships above.**_ " The fireteam looked upwards to see a helicopter flying above their heads.

"Lay down your weapons and identify yourselves!" The man from the helicopter said through a loudspeaker. "Or you will be shot!"

"Guess that explains their status." Xiao muttered as she equipped a Crooked Fang-4FR and aimed it towards the rotor tail of the helicopter. "I got this." A quick charge and a beam of energy took out the tail of the airship, making it spin and crash land somewhere nearby.

"Pretty old stuff 'round these parts." Titan Crow remarked as he gently caressed the tiny yellow bird with another finger. "Wonder what time period we're in?"

"Dunno, let's go find some civilization." Warlock Malcolm quietly said as he shouldered his weapon. "Watch for hostiles."

. . .

"Sector clear." Zhen said as she lowered her hand cannon, looking towards her two compatriots plus their newly found robot friend. "Hold on. Encampment up ahead."

"I'll find out if they're friendly." Crow said as he walked up to the campfire surrounded by five armed soldiers in black armor. "Hey! You guys know where the nearest city is-" The Titan was interrupted as the soldiers quickly scrambled to their feet and started shooting at him.

"Okay then, not friendly!" Crow said as he pummeled a soldier to a tree, making it lightly tilt. He put down a rally shield and equipped an IKELOS shotgun. The Titan peeked out and rushed another soldier, throwing him towards his comrade before blasting them both with a single shot from his weapon. Crow giggled as he pummeled one of the last two into the ground.

Xiao and Edgar plus their robotic friend surrounded the last man, who threw down his weapon and had his hands up.

"At least you're smart." Xiao muttered as she kicked away the rifle on the ground. The Huntress kneeled in front of him. "Let's make this quick. Civilization, where?"

"Stuttgart! Just a few kilometers west!" The man said in between stutters. "Please! Just let me go-"

The man was interrupted by a single shot from _the Polaris Lance_. Xiao rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the pool of blood.

"Let's go then."

" _ **Our friend's saying that he's not welcome there. Also, he says that his name is Bastion.**_ " Mac flatly said.

Xiao turned to their friendly robot. "Alright then…Crow, you wanna keep company for him?" The Titan looked to her.

"Sure." Crow said as he slung his shotgun over his shoulder. "I'll meet you guys later, then?"

"That's the plan. We're going to scout out the city and figure out what to do from there." Edgar said as his helmet dematerialized.

"Well, good luck out there, if you guys need it."

"Trust me, we won't." Xiao dryly laughed. "Make sure you tell us anything interesting you see before you blow it to bits."

"Of course, Xiao. Anytime." Crow spoke softly.

"Edgar, stay close and be ready for anything that can happen."

The two departed for the city of _Stuttgart, Germany._

* * *

 **I did the Last Wish yesterday, that was pretty cool. Although we cheesed Riven pretty hard.**

 **Edit 2: Fixes and fixes. I realize how badly I interpreted the lore, jesus.**


	7. Guardians

It had been around nine years Russell had been on this planet. The Hunter couldn't care less about his duties on his version of Earth, as he had Cassandra with him. She was all he needed, and the feeling was mutual.

The two had lain low while the world slowly descended into chaos, with Talon rising even further and governments reacting slowly, things have quite frankly, gone to shit. Without Overwatch to oversee justice, no one was willing to step up to the plate in order to bring stability in this hectic world.

Tensions between Omnics and humans have been rising, and some new villains have risen too. Russell had gotten wind of a new guy terrorizing Numbani going by the name _Doomfist._ Another character was _Reaper_ , a mercenary working for Talon that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, being able to reportedly teleport, turn into mist and blast things way bigger than he was to Hell with akimbo shotguns. Of course, to complement the short-range baddies, was the infamous sniper _Widowmaker._ Russell had bet a couple hundred against Cassandra that she was Amélie Lacroix, but that bet had been put on hold for quite a while now, as they haven't had a chance to encounter the infamous sniper in battle.

Russell rushed Cassandra with manic glee as he twirled and quickly moved against the slightly slower Warlock, landing a few punches on her chest as she played it defensively, most likely looking for an opening in the Hunter's fighting style.

A punch was thrown too slowly, and now Russell was at the mercy of the ruthless Cassandra Messer, who grabbed his arm and threw him towards the edge of the fighting ring, making him bounce off the Hard Light border. Cassandra then dove into Russell and jabbed a knee into his stomach, earning a distinct crunch sound as a multitude of ribs broke.

The Hunter quickly kicked Cassandra off and landed, panting. He raised himself and his fists once more as his opponent slowly encroached upon him. Although the broken ribs hurt, Jingles patched him up enough to be in fighting condition. Russell jabbed at Cassandra's legs, knocking her down easier than she would normally allow before pinning the Warlock and going for straight punches to her face.

Cassandra's arms blocked the oncoming attacks before swiping a fist away and then her palm made contact with Russell's face, throwing a burst of Arc energy that pushed the Hunter to the sky, bouncing off the border and landing with a thud.

"Ooh…no fair." Russell muttered as he turned onto his back. "That was dirty…"

Cassandra then pinned Russell to the ground, making sure that he was stuck underneath her with no means of escape. She smiled devilishly as her face closed into Russell's. "Dirty fighters are winners." She whispered as their foreheads made contact. "That was fun." She giggled.

Russell, too red to even realize that his arms weren't pinned anymore, stammered something out.

Cassandra giggled some more as she bit her lip, and put a thumb inside Russell's lips. "You're so adorable, all flustered like this."

Russell nervously cleared his throat and attempted to say something witty, but opted to keep silent.

The atmosphere would be broken by Russell's phone ringing. Cassandra looked at the thing annoyed and wanted to glare it out of existence, but despite her amazing powers, she could not do such a feat.

Russell turned to the source of the sound as he gently lifted Cassandra off himself before shakily standing up. He limped towards the device and looked at the incoming alert.

"Overwatch's recalled." Russell stated flatly as he watched the video message from Winston, the gorilla scientist, who had been hiding out in Watchpoint Gibraltar. Cassandra stood next to Russell as she looked at the message too. "What do you say-"

The Hunter was interrupted as the phone was knocked out of his hand and he was pressed against a wall.

"We'll discuss this later." Cassandra firmly stated as she leaned in for a kiss, one that Russell returned eagerly.

Jingles oversaw the security cameras while Mint made sure nobody interrupted the two Guardians.

They wouldn't get out of the sparring room for a while.

/

"What's the score on our sparring again, twelve-nil?" Cassandra asked as she wrapped her arms around her dear Hunter.

"Eleven-one actually. You cheated that last time." Russell replied as he looked to the horizon.

They should be arriving atop of Watchpoint Gibraltar in a few minutes now.

Cassandra laughed. "Please, and you're telling me you never cheated when you fight?"

"At least I'm honest about it." Russell mused as he let go of the control stick of his ship. He looked up towards Cassandra, who exhaled into him as she caressed her perfect partner.

Her perfect little Hunter. She would do everything she could to keep him safe. She didn't want to lose him again.

Traveler knows how deeply she burned for him.

She could feel the Taken energy slowly taking over her, doing…something to her mind. She could hear Xol whispering inside her head as she intensely gazed at Russell. Her breath was shaky as she stared into his grey eyes.

"No wonder you're so terrible at Crucible..." She mumbled, low enough to not be heard. Her thoughts deviated elsewhere but her stare was affixed.

"Uh, you okay?" Russell asked, breaking her out of her trance. "You seem zoned out."

"Sorry, I was just thinking of what if…" The Warlock bit her tongue.

"If?"

"I just don't want to lose you again, after so long." She replied solemnly.

Russell only chuckled, which was odd considering the subject. "I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you, again." His head rested onto the headrest, he exhaled.

"One day, we can live a perfect life together. One day."

"We'll work something out." Russell said as he turned to face the small island of Gibraltar, that now appeared before them as the ship slowed down.

"We're here." Jingles said as the Ghost did his thing. The Watchpoint was built into a cliff and seemed cozy enough.

"Guess this is our new home." Russell remarked, and flicked a few switches on the control panel of his vessel. "We're on approach, Winston you there?"

"Huh? Yes, I'm here. Land your ship above the base." Winston replied.

The ship landed on a flat area, and that ground slowly descended as the platform took them into the base. Russell led his ship into a compartment and hopped out, Cassandra following.

"Meet me at the lab. We have to get operations going." Winston said as Russell turned a direction, presumably to head where the lab was.

"I have a plus-one, is that alright? There enough room?" Russell chuckled.

A sad laugh came from the other side. "There is plenty of room. Not many agents responded to the recall. Yet, I hope."

Cassandra followed Russell as they took some detours and explored the partially abandoned Watchpoint, which led them to a big slide-up door. Russell waved to a camera in the corner and an entrance presented itself as the door moved upwards. The pair entered the laboratory, which had a big holographic globe in the center, a dozen monitors at a terminal station in the corner, a massive pile of empty peanut butter jars in another, and a ramp that overlooked the entire room. Papers and a mish-mash of objects littered the ground.

Cassandra kept her helmet on and her Breakneck on her back as she followed Russell who seemed to be buddies with whoever Winston was.

What she didn't realize was that Winston was a gorilla, something she thought were fictional. He even had a tire hung on a rope that was attached to the ceiling.

Russell took off his helmet and greeted the gorilla, who returned the greeting warmly then turned to look towards Cassandra.

"I assume this is your plus-one?" The gorilla asked as he smiled at her.

"Cassandra Messer." The Warlock said as she nodded. "Ready for duty."

"Perfect." Winston said. "We're just waiting on one more and then we can get started with field operations."

"Don't you think it's a bit…early, to be doing this? There are only three actual agents that would be available, four if you count Cass over here." Russell remarked as he put a hand on his hip.

"I would have to agree, but Talon aren't going to wait for us to assemble before they strike, we must attack first." Winston said as he looked towards the computer monitors. "Times are desperate."

"Looks like it. Who are we waiting for?" Russell asked.

"Lena Oxton, or as you may know her, Tracer." Winston replied.

"Lena Oxton?" Cassandra piped up as she looked at the image of Tracer on a screen. "I know her."

"That's good. Hopefully not in bad terms?" Winston asked.

"No, not at all. We had a few encounters here and there, but no bad blood between us." Cassandra answered as she turned back to look towards the gorilla scientist.

"Hey, uh, could you open the door, love? Kinda chilly out here!" Lena Oxton's voice rang over a speaker from the computer.

"Right, door's opening." Winston replied, pressing a button as the door behind them slid upwards in the silent hum of a motor.

Tracer did a quick finger salute before blinking her way towards the hologlobe.

Cassandra looked at the familiar figure with interest. "Hello, Lena."

Lena turned towards the Warlock. "Oh! Cassandra, been a while, huh?"

"Definitely." Cassandra replied as she hugged the Brit. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothin' much, just mulling about Britain lookin' for something to do." Lena rolled her eyes. "Y'know the police never really have the situation under control?"

Cassandra dryly laughed. "Isn't that always the case when the criminals are almost always augmented in some way? They're a bit behind."

"Definitely." Lena turned to Russell. "Russell! What have you been up to?"

Cassandra's fist tightened as she saw Lena give Russell a tight hug.

"Nothing, really. Been laying low with her." Russell nodded towards Cassandra.

"Figured you two would go together." Lena said. "Anyways, onto the important business, so, what do we have on our plate today?"

"We have several requests for aid from a number of countries who have received word of our recall." A female, monotone voice said. "That number would be three."

Cassandra rolled her eyes at what she thought was an attempt at comedy.

"South Korea, Switzerland and Numbani. Would you like me to elaborate?" The somewhat omnipotent sounding voice said.

"That's Athena, the AI responsible for managing the Watchpoint." Winston said as he opened another jar of peanut butter.

"Nice to meet you all. However now is not the time for introductions. I have already divided you four into two teams-" Winston shut the AI up with the press of a button.

"Russell and Cassandra will head out to South Korea and aid them in their current situation with the Gwishin." Cassandra's eyebrow raised. Russell could be seen having a momentary flashback.

"Gwishin?" She asked.

"That is the Omnic force that harasses the major cities of South Korea. We have received intel that Talon have established a stronghold and is looking to sabotage the MEKA program." Athena filled in. Russell relaxed himself. "You must go in and stop them. Of course, you will be cooperating with the South Korean military to coordinate a strike on wherever Talon may be."

Cassandra rolled her eyes at the idea of coordination when Russell was present. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"No." The Warlock turned to Russell, who shrugged.

"Guess we got our job. When can we head out?" He asked.

"They expect you in seventy-two hours." Athena replied.

"Great, we got some time. You up for sparring again?" Cassandra could only smile at the proposition.

"Of course, anything for you."

/

 _Lore entry unlocked: The Search for Russell Dulk_

 _Entry 5: Pursuing a Warlock_

Xiao Zhen looks at her fireteam. Two reliable, but somewhat quirky partners.

Titan Mark Crow is playing with his prosthetic arm, occasionally slapping it as the appendage flailed, like it had been possessed by the Warming.

Warlock Edgar Malcolm is leaning against a wall with a cigarette, taking small puffs as he enjoys the luxurious item. He coughs and flicks the orange butt over the wall.

 _We know our mission._ Xiao begins, looking at her fireteam with scrutiny.

Crow waves her off. _Yeah, yeah. Big bad Dredgen Yor Warlock equivalent is doing bad stuff._

The Huntress is annoyed now. _Except it'll take more than a Golden Gun to put her down._ She muses. _We've had reports that she has her own Ascendant Realm now._

Malcolm perks up. _Doesn't the Drifter have one? What makes her so special?_

Xiao huffs. _Well, she's in bed with Riven._

The Warlock slowly nods and mouths his understanding. He checks the time. _I think the portal opens now, Blind Well has been reported to be at full charge, let's go._

The three teleport to their ships and all set the same destination.

 _Welcome to the Great Warlock Hunt._ Xiao chuckles afterwards.

 _Come on, you couldn't have picked a better name?_ Malcolm comments.

/

 _Stuttgart, Germany_

The city seemed...homely enough. Though it reeked of dark undertones, as the streets were empty and Xiao could distinguish multiple pairs of eyes looking at her and Edgar from the comfort of their own homes.

Xiao looked at a man who was desperately fiddling with a bicycle lock, swearing in a long-lost language as he struggled with it.

"Excuse me, uh-" The man screamed and bolted the other direction. "Okay, then." Xiao muttered as she continued down the road, hoping to encounter someone who wouldn't do the same as that guy.

Xiao and Edgar stopped as a few police cars screeched to a stop in front of them, followed by a big van. Police officers that looked straight out of a Pre-Golden Age sci-fi flick hopped out and pointed pistols at them while screaming in the same language that the other guy was using.

" _ **They're telling you to put your hands up.**_ " Mac said. A hulking man in heavy armor stepped out of the van behind the cars and shook the ground with every step.

"Translate this for me." Xiao cracked her neck. "We're not here to harm anyone. Put the weapons down and we can talk things over." She said to the police officers.

Mac appeared and repeated that in another language.

The policemen somewhat lowered their weapons but still eyed her and Edgar suspiciously.

"Does anyone here speak English?" Xiao asked.

"I do." A man that looked similar to the other police officers but wore more advanced armor stepped in front of them. "We are very sorry for the aggression. We're currently dealing with a threat from a certain group."

"Point me at them and we'll make 'em disappear. Maybe make them go boom." Xiao chuckled as she popped off her helmet, revealing a sharp Awoken woman that had signs of aging with white hair in a simple bob cut. "Let's talk business, chief."

There are obvious whispered comments about how Xiao is blue from the police officers, which only make them stand more aggressively.

"You are…mercenaries?" The police chief asked as he looked at them questioningly. "Oh no, the mayor strictly forbids us to interact with people like you. Plus you look like...um." He stopped himself there.

"Maybe an exception can be made? We'll make Talon go away for good, and I'm sure they'll be eager to never come back." Xiao said confidently.

"Perhaps…" The police chief bit his inner cheek. "We'll discuss this somewhere else. Right now, we're causing quite a bit of unrest."

"Right." Xiao said as she looked towards Edgar, who shrugged in response.

. . .

Upon entering the dimly lit, windowless room, Xiao could only roll her eyes as three guards were placed behind the police chief, who stood in front of a table and motioned for her and Edgar to sit down.

"There a reason for the guards?" Xiao asked. "Rhetorical question." She said as she sat down in front of the chief. Edgar sat beside her. "I mean, we don't have any weapons on us."

"To be safe." The police chief replied. "I am polizei chief Gromm, and I am pleased to meet you two."

" _ **That's German for police, right?**_ " Xiao asked her Ghost.

" _ **Yes.**_ "

"Likewise." Xiao replied, tapping her fingers on the plastic foldable table. "We have…Talon, to discuss, if I recall correctly?"

"Yes. Talon have been a menace to our city for quite a bit now, and _scheisse_ they've taken practically everything they could from us. The populace's trust, money, blood, everything." Police chief Gromm sadly said. "We have been looking for a solution, but our leader is quite a prideful man, and refuses any external help."

"Reminds me of someone." Edgar muttered, then quietly snickered.

Xiao exhaled as she stretched her fingers. "Maybe we can, teach him a lesson?"

Gromm paled. " _Nein,_ no! Nothing of the sort!"

"Alright then, what do you need us to do?"

Gromm sighed. "We have information of a potential hideout."

Xiao nodded in response. "We go in there, blow 'em up?"

"'Zat is a possibility. However, you have to make it look like you acted without our aid. _Vigilante,_ as you Americans would call it."

Xiao raised an eyebrow. "American?"

"Yes, aren't you two American?"

"Sure, let's just keep it at that." Xiao finished. "Off we go?"

Gromm nodded, and the two Guardians stood up and left the police station.

"Did we just get sucked into street justice?" Edgar asked, stretching his arms.

"Guess so. Hey, more time in the spotlight, Hero of the Red War." Xiao lightly jabbed her partner in the shoulder. "Let's get this done before sundown."

"You think we should let Crow know?" Edgar asked.

"Eh, he'll be fine."

Edgar shrugged in response and equipped his weapon.

/

 _Forest near Stuttgart, Germany_

"So, what have you been doing here, all alone like this?" Titan Crow sat in front of the big blocky robot, who identified itself as Bastion. "Must've been lonely without any robot friends, huh?"

" _ **INDEED. I H-HAVE BEEN VERY…LONELY.**_ " The message was interpreted by Crow's Ghost, _Raven_ and then told through their mental link. " _ **BASTION HAS NO DIRECTIVE. SO, BASTION MUST EXPLORE. TO SEE THE WORLD.**_ "

The robot stood up and started walking in a direction.

"Whoa, hold on there!" Crow grabbed a hold of the robot's shoulder and held as firmly as he could. "Gotta wait for my other friends, or else you're gonna get killed!"

" _ **BASTION CAN DEFEND HIMSELF. NOW RELEASE ME, I MUST EXPLORE.**_ " Bastion then continued moving. " _ **FOLLOW IF YOU DESIRE.**_ "

"Tell me where you are headed, at least?" Crow asked as he followed the robot.

" _ **SWEDEN.**_ "

"Why do you wanna go there?"

" _ **BASTION IS UNSURE. IT IS SUB-TASK ONE OF ONE-HUNDRED-NINETY-SIX.**_ "

"Whoa, you gotta slow down there, maybe you're a bit too ambitious?" Crow reasoned.

" _ **NEGATIVE. BASTION THINKS HE IS FULLY CAPABLE OF EFFECTUATING THIS TASK. GANYMEDE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY.**_ " The yellow bird that built its nest on the robot chirped at Crow.

"Uh, what did it say?"

" _ **IT TELLS YOU THAT YOU ARE TOO PESSIMISTIC, AND THAT YOU SHOULD COME ALONG.**_ "

"I don't know about that, let's just wait for my friends and we'll think about it later." Crow was pulled along for the Bastion unit's long walk.

" _ **NEGATIVE. IN ORDER TO EFFECTUATE CLASS 'AMBITIOUS' TASK, IT IS OPTIMAL TO COMMENCE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.**_ "

"Oh by the Traveler, there's no convincing you is there…" Crow exhaled. "Well, guess I'll see you on the road then."

" _ **NEGATIVE. YOU ARE COMING ALONG.**_ " Bastion turned to Crow, grabbed a hold of his shoulder and attempted to drag him. " _ **IMPERATIVE SUB-TASK.**_ "

The Titan attempted to resist but then asked himself:

"What the is the point of reasoning with this one? I'll just let them know we're going to Sweden."

/

 _South Korea, classified military installation_

Russell hailed his approach as the radio operator promptly demanded his identification.

"ID, Romeo-Delta, access Oscar-Whiskey-One-Seven-Eight-Tango-Three." Russell put his ship at a standstill as he waited for clearance.

The red lights that were on the corners of the landing pad changed from red to green. "You are clear for landing."

Russell rolled his eyes at the saying. Cassandra was inspecting her nails as she waited for them to land.

The ship landed, and Russell plus his girlfriend hopped out, being greeted by two armed guards. They both greeted with short nods as the two Guardians passed by.

The sea was roaring in the distance, and a thunderstorm sounded itself in the horizon. Russell went down a few flights of stairs and took a few turns, passing a couple of soldiers and teenagers in skin-tight suits with various bright colors.

He wondered what that was all about.

Russell nodded to two guards who returned it as they let him and Cassandra into the command center of the base. There was a big table with a screen that displayed tons of tactical information surrounded by a few South Korean officials and a short teenager in a bright skin-tight suit. Other presumably important people milled about as they worked on whatever they were doing.

Huh. Perhaps the teenagers in bright skin-tight suits were probably going to play a bigger role in this.

Russell, flanked by Cassandra to his right walked up to the command table, being on the opposite side of the general and a short Asian woman in a form-fitting suit full of bright colors, mainly pink. On her chest was the depiction of a smug bunny.

"General." Russell said as he impassively looked at the general, then to the one beside him, who was giving the Hunter the stink-eye. "Pleasure to meet you."

The general nodded in response. "You must be the 'Cloaked Gunslinger'."

"They call me that?" Russell asked as he caught a tablet that was slid across the planning table. It depicted a magazine cover of a celebrity known as D'Va with a pistol and making a bubble-gum bubble, plus a very well edited photo of Russell mid-air being thrown back in the middle of an explosion whilst pointing the Ace of Spades towards the left. "Huh, pretty cool, what do you think, Cass?"

"Ugh." Was the only thing that Cassandra said. "Tacky."

"So, what's the plan?" Russell looked towards the holographic map that covered the entire table. It depicted a diagram of a few blocks of destroyed buildings with several markers of spotted Talon snipers and possible weapon caches. Every building in the area was destroyed in such a way that it was possible to see the adjacent buildings, meaning every soldier had constant visual contact with each other.

Russell zoomed into a courtyard highlighted in red. "I'm assuming this is their main headquarters?"

The general only nodded. "They have fenced off the entire area. I have heard reports of tanks being airdropped in and being prepared for a full-on assault of Forward Base Specter, which contains essential resources for the MEKA program. We must move quick, as they are encumbered with injured and cannot properly mount a defense."

"We'll get it down. Just get me a teleporter and I'll pop in and say hello." Russell chuckled. "Kidding, but seriously, you can drop me in there and I'll get the job done."

The general cleared his throat. "You will be airdropped in on the south-western quadrant of the area, and you are to accompany the MEKA squadron to the field base. Make sure they all arriveintact."

"I can do that."

/

Sargent Jonathan Tan was not very happy with the duty he was saddled with. Sure, he was devoted to Talon and what they stood for, but guard duty? Really? Was that all they could give his crew considering how eager they were to serve them? He had sent out a few men to check the perimeters, but so far, they haven't reported back yet. There was some gunfire in the distance, but he assumed it was just stragglers from the Korean army.

"Beta-Two, report." Jonathan said into his radio device, expecting a prompt response.

Static and gunfire was all he got as an answer. "Beta-Two, what's your status?"

" _WE'RE ENGAGED WITH HOSTILES! PULL BACK! PULL BA-"_ The man's voice was drowned behind the cracks of bullets.

"Beta-Two, is everything alright? Report!" An explosion sounded in the difference, and Jonathan could recognize the silhouette of a person headed straight for him.

"WOOHOO-HOO!" The man screamed as he crashed straight into the Talon soldier. "Man, I am having the time of my life right now!" The cloaked figure said as he climbed off of Jonathan, who was dazed from the impact.

"Right, marking you for prisoner, and off you go!" The man tied some sort of balloon onto Jonathan which promptly threw the man into the atmosphere, to be picked up by an airship.

The Talon Sargent could recognize a few of his soldiers that were tied up with him.

"Beta-Two?"

"The name's Timothy, jackass."

/

Russell dusted himself off as he watched the Talon goon soar into the air, aided by the extraction balloon. A tear rolled down his cheek as he admired the pure beauty of the sight. But it was time to get back to business, he had a Talon base to punch through.

The Hunter hopped up and took a zipline that connected the destroyed buildings, a cloud of dust forming underneath him as he landed, crouching down next to a window that had a good vantage point on the Talon field base.

"Cass, you alright over there?" Russell asked as he setup the Whisper of the Worm. "Those teenagers giving you any trouble?"

"Things are fine over here. We're getting ready to engage their front guards, waiting on you to fire the first shot." Cassandra paused. "Be a darling and take down the armored MG emplacement just at the front? I've marked it."

A red marker appeared on Russell's HUD, he zoomed into it and saw a heavy armored man standing at a heavily fortified machine gun surrounded by sandbags and other soldiers. His aim was steady as the crosshairs lined up with the soldier's head.

"Jingles, how far is this guy?" Russell muttered, as he kept steady on his target.

" _ **I would guess…maybe three kilometers?**_ "

"Sounds about right."

A thump sound echoed, and then the man's head exploded in a mess of blood and brains a few seconds later. The ones around him started scrambling into position while a pink bipedal mech rushed into action, followed by two others of different colors. Cassandra was the only one on foot and managed to destroy the front gate with a Chaos Reach.

The mechs and the Warlock entered the compound. Russell took that as his turn to move and hopped onto another zipline that led to a sniper's nest closer to his target. He continued jumping from building to building, occasionally providing support with the Whisper of the Worm as he approached.

The Hunter hopped over an electrified barbed wire fence, landing on one of the tanks the general mentioned earlier. The war machine whirred to life as it turned out there was a person inside operating it. Russell pried open the hatch door and jumped inside. He then grabbed the lone operator and smashed him against a screen before shooting a few shots of the Ace of Spades into the man's stomach. "Hope I didn't break anything too bad." He muttered as he kicked the body away and sat on the driver's seat.

"Jingles, you know how to work this thing?"

" _ **Yeah, easy stuff, just give me a second…**_ " There was a pause as various blips sounded from the control panel of the tank. " _ **There. You should be good to go.**_ "

"Hey, uh, I took one of their tanks, don't shoot me." Russell said into his radio as he drove through a few trucks, turning into the main pathways of the base where he met several other Talon tanks facing away from him, pointing their big guns towards the apparent threat, that being several brightly colored flying mechs and a blood-hungry Warlock.

One of the mechs, bee themed with a yellow body with several black accents, flew into the air and rushed towards Russell's tank before landing on it. The MEKA's weapons whirred to life as it started shooting into the hull of the tank.

"Asshole, that's me!" Russell screamed as he pressed himself to a corner when a dart of plasma nearly burned his beautiful, beautiful face.

"…Sorry." Was the reply from the man in the MEKA, who then flew away to fight the other threats.

Russell aimed the main weapon towards a Talon-controlled tank and pressed a big red button that said "FIRE". A hot goop of plasma came from the cannon and landed on the back of the tank, where the weak spot was.

A satisfying explosion soon ensued as the tank burst into flames and exploded into a wreck that started a domino-effect of destroying more tanks.

Russell howled in excitement as he climbed out of his vehicle and watched the destruction unfold, unaware of the one tank that remained, and was pointing its main cannon straight at him.

A bright pink mech dove from the sky and rammed into Russell, throwing him towards the enemy tank. The Hunter could see the smug smirk on the pilot's face as he bounced off the enemy vehicle and landed on the ground, rolling just in time to avoid being burnt to a crisp by the engines.

"Motherfucker…" Russell muttered as he shoved a grenade into the belly of the war machine and then crawling out as it exploded in a heap of fire and metal. "You trying to fucking kill me or something-"

The bumblebee mech was the next one to ram him into a broken building.

"Just paying back the favor." A girl voice said over the radio as Russell stumbled his way upwards.

"Alright then." He squinted as he hopped over the third MEKA about to run into him, this one was green and overall plant themed, with various decals of deadly looking plants all over it. His feet met the roof of the mech as he pulled out the Ace of Spades and started firing towards the other ones.

He waited for them to rush him mid-air. They were all converging into one point, perfect.

The Hunter had a special trick that would blow up in their faces, literally. The pink MEKA was barreling straight towards him but he jumped to the side and started twirling as his body turned orange and a cloud of explosive knives was unleashed, managing to land a good amount of hits on the bumblebee and green mechs. The pink one was fast and managed to escape without taking much damage.

Russell paid their crashes no mind as he gracefully landed with a double jump, taking a quick glance behind him as he saw the pink MEKA land next to the wrecks of its two friends, and a petite woman hopped out of it, rushing towards the wrecks.

"You did what you had to." Cassandra said as she patted his back. The two were about to leave until a familiar roar caught their attention.

Two black portals appeared and the Taken – creatures of dark that corrupted everything they touched – came out of them. They were fragile, but compensated for it by coming in great numbers.

"No…" Russell muttered as he looked towards the Taken portal. "I thought…"

The Hunter's vision was tinted red as he wielded the Ace of Spades once more, rushing into the dark mob that had formed.

/

" _Hey…uh, Xiao, Edgar, I'm following our friend to Sweden…so yeah, meet me there, I guess. My ship's in orbit, so don't worry about that._ " Xiao's brows furrowed as she listened to the message of their Titan. Edgar continued playing with the Polaris Lance, flicking rounds in between his fingers and slotting them into the scout rifle's magazine.

"He'll be fine, we'll meet up with him over there. We got a terrorist cell to destroy." Edgar offhandedly said as he loaded a magazine inside his rifle, the weapon chirping a positive tone.

"Titan's insane, I tell you." Xiao muttered as she looked down towards the warehouse that supposedly was the command center for all Talon activity in the area.

Xiao put up her cloak and equipped Malfeasance, cracking her neck as she hopped down from the building they stood on, landing with a double jump to break the fall.

" _I'll head from up top, let me know when you're going loud._ " Edgar said using their communication link. The Warlock was spotted hopping from building to building, eventually landing on the warehouse, giving Xiao a wave before disappearing.

It was about to rain, but that didn't matter as she was about to make some thunder of her own.

The Huntress kicked down the front door of the building and stepped inside the dark lobby. Her Ghost appeared floating on top of her left shoulder and lit up the way. Xiao found a directory that had a layout of the entire complex, including a non-descript basement that piqued her interest.

Xiao headed for an elevator and pressed the down-arrow button, waiting for her transport to arrive. "Seems like there's a basement, you check the surface-level, I'll check down here."

Edgar responded with a grunt as the sound of a window breaking sounded over the link before it was shut off.

The elevator door opened, revealing two soldiers in black armor, holding assault rifles haphazardly whilst talking to each other. They paused as Xiao casually walked into the chamber with them, the door closing soon after.

Once the elevator was sealed, Xiao grabbed a soldier by the head and threw him to a wall, making it cave in before ducking a jab from the stock of the other's assault rifle. A shot to the crotch from Malfeasance dealt with the other guy, as he collapsed in a pile of whimpers and blood.

The elevator door opened once more, revealing another soldier who was waiting for it.

Xiao was quick to fire as she put the man down and stepped into the hallway of the underground complex. Looking both ways, she pulled out her Ghost for advice.

"Any ideas?" Xiao asked.

"Take a left…I'm sensing Taken signatures." The Huntress' face turned grave as she heard that. Her Ghost disappeared.

Xiao took a left and found herself in a balcony spot that overlooked a rudimentary research lab, with tables and computers surrounding a giant force-field that held a massive Taken blight inside. Guards patrolled with their weapons while scientists in white lab coats hurriedly ran back and forth.

"Taken blight down here. I'm blowing it up." Xiao whispered as she hopped down from her balcony, landing quietly as she quickly crept up behind an unsuspecting guard.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and a deafening snap was heard as she twisted the man's neck in an unnatural way. She gently laid the man down and tucked him behind a crate.

" _ **You have any idea what they're doing with this?**_ " Xiao asked.

" _ **I** **f you get me closer, I could tell you."**_

Xiao peeked over her cover and dashed across an open area, sliding underneath a table and then taking cover behind a large steel beam. She leaned her head in the direction of a scientist who was discussing something with another.

" _ **It's a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo. They're just analyzing it and…coming up with a way to reproduce it.**_ "

Xiao waited for the two researchers to disperse before making her move towards the row of messily set up computer terminals.

" _ **Delete everything, and make it quick.**_ " Xiao mentally said as her Ghost appeared floating above her palm then flew towards a computer, zapping the device with its rays of Light.

"I'm going loud." Xiao said as she threw a Void grenade towards a group of soldiers, killing them all in a single fell swoop. An alarm was sounded as the scientists started dispersing and running in every direction. Amidst them were the guards.

A shot from the Polaris Lance from above took down a soldier. Xiao turned to Edgar, the Warlock giving a simple nod as he went back to shooting more of the guards. In the meantime, the force-field went down, exposing the Taken Blight.

Xiao immediately started shooting it with Malfeasance, ignoring the gunshots coming straight at her.

A roar sounded and two Taken Knights warped into reality. They were abnormally big, meaning that they were veteran warriors.

Xiao rolled to the side, evading a smash from a Knight's sword. The other turned its attention to Edgar, who had activated _Dawnblade_ and was lobbing arcs of fire towards it with a massive broadsword whilst flying. The Huntress activated her Super ability, _Spectral Blades_ , and two Void knives appeared in her hands and she became invisible, a barely distinguishable purple haze covering her form.

Xiao zipped back and forth, clearly too fast for the Taken Knight as it couldn't land a hit on her. The Taken being soon collapsed onto its knees and warped away into nothingness. The other met the same fate as it was disintegrated by the Dawnblade.

A portal appeared before Xiao.

" _ **It's unstable. If you're going in, it's now or never.**_ "

"I'm going in!" Xiao screamed to her partner as she hopped in. She swore she could hear an objections but she couldn't make out what it was.

Her feet landed on the broken ground of the Ascendant Plane. An oppressive, dark wind blew from the side as the Huntress focused her attention on a little floating mass of Light that was zipping around. A voice spoke inside her mind.

" _ **It's been a while since I saw an actual Guardian here.**_ " The feminine voice said. " _ **Since mine betrayed me, and by consequence the Traveler too.**_ " It paused. " _ **You're lucky she isn't here right now. She won't be for a while, so you can explore if you want.**_ "

" _ **Who's 'she'?**_ " Xiao asked.

" _ **My former Guardian, Cassandra. Last I remember she had a red ponytail, nice eyes and was totally obsessed with her boyfriend.**_ "

" _ **How did she…make all this?**_ "

" _ **Riven granted her a wish, and well, now she's carrying on the curse. Kill her, and whatever's happening in the Dreaming City disappears. How's it like, over there?**_ " The voice sounded hopeless, sad.

" _ **Where can I find Cassandra?**_ "

" _ **I wouldn't know. I've been stuck in this forsaken place for years now. I'm just a wandering spirit, warning everyone away from here.**_ " The voice stopped. " _ **If you're looking to kill her, don't bother…unless you go after her significant other, Russell.**_ "

" _ **Russell? As in Russell Dulk?**_ "

" _ **Yeah, that's him. Turn him against her, and she'll break, crumble. Sure, she'll be pissed and become really powerful, but she would be vulnerable. Although it can't be you who has to take a killing shot.**_ " Xiao huffed as she looked around, seeing nothing but darkness. " _ **That's your plan, now leave, before she comes back. You better return with other Guardians.**_ "

A portal opened behind Xiao. The Huntress gave one last look at the former Ghost before hopping back through.

Edgar was there to meet her, his arms crossed as he looked at her emerge from the Taken portal which soon enough disappeared.

"So, how was it?" Edgar asked. "You learn anything useful?"

"Yeah, I got a plan."

The two headed out of the warehouse complex.

* * *

 **That should be it.**

 **I'm pretty nasty at Gambit.**

 **Edit: Fixed!**


	8. Ascendant Plane and Robot Shenanigans

Russell was normally a relaxed, somewhat sarcastic person. What constituted as normal for him was practically universal for every Guardian.

The Taken were definitely something that weren't normal.

The Hunter stabbed a Taken Psion who had just finished splitting into two, then in quickly ended the other one. He turned to face a Phalanx that was pointing its shield at him and was ready to send him flying in the air. Russell shot the Phalanx in the legs, staggering it before ending it with two quick shots with the Ace of Spades. The Architects wouldn't kill him today.

He twirled his hand cannon, dropping a cylinder and then replacing it with a glowing one. He pointed it towards Taken Thrall, who were rushing him in masses. A practiced shot landed on one's head, making an explosion and throwing the others off. A few more shots dealt with the rest and a grenade towards a Taken Knight sent the being back to whatever deepest pits of the galaxy it came from.

A scream caught the Hunter's attention as he turned towards the wreck of MEKAs. A Taken Captain was standing above the petite Asian teenager that hopped out of the pink mech. It screeched and then slashed at the girl, who narrowly evaded it by backing up. Russell grabbed its attention by shooting it a few times, taking down half of its shield. The Taken Captain turned towards him and rushed forward. In response, Russell threw three knives in a straight line towards the being, taking it down and warping it away.

Everything quieted down, save for the burning of vehicles. Another roar sounded as two more blights appeared. Russell loaded a fresh cylinder into his hand cannon and waited for more Taken to appear.

"Behind you!" Was all he heard from D'Va, before something impacted the back of his head strong enough to knock him to the floor. The world slowly faded to darkness as he heard footsteps above him, headed towards the source of the voice. He barely could recognize a figure grabbing the small teenager by the throat and lifting her up. There were pleas to stop and obvious struggling, but the sound of a warp soon made itself heard and all was quiet.

The world went dark as Russell fell unconscious.

 _Ascendant Plane, Unknown Space_

Russell woke with a jumpstart as he found himself in the unfortunately familiar Hive realm. It took a few seconds for his mind to reorient itself. A shaky exhale came from his mouth as he took in his surroundings.

The Ascendant Plane, it had been a while since he's been here. His feet met unstable ground as the world shook upon his step.

A mass of fragmented Light was zipping around and with no apparent goal in mind. The mass stopped in front of Russell.

" _ **Russell?**_ _**Been a while.**_ " The voice was familiar, it was of Cassandra's Ghost, Mint.

" _ **Mint? What happened to you? What's all this?**_ "

" _ **I'm kinda trapped in here, you know? Eternal damnation and all.**_ " The voice paused. " _ **Don't look behind you.**_ "

"Wha-" Russell turned around to see a massive Titan shoulder-charging him. The impact destroyed the few fragments of reality he had as he was knocked out cold.

 _Classified Military Installation, South Korea_

Russell woke with a scream as he was thrown straight out of his dream and back into the real world. He patted himself and looked around frantically.

"What the-" The Hunter was panting, not understanding what just happened. "How the-" He couldn't form any coherent thoughts together, nothing seemed to connect.

The Ascendant Plane, Mint, and a shoulder-charging Titan? How did any of that make sense?

Russell turned to his side to see Cassandra, sleeping. She was holding tight onto his arm whilst snuggling her head into the appendage. He attempted to move it but the Warlock pulled and murmured in her sleep.

" _ **You're awake.**_ " Jingles said over the mental link. " _ **…You understand everything, right?**_ "

" _ **Understand what?**_ " Russell replied somewhat irritably. " _ **Are you looking at my dreams?**_ "

" _ **Well, yeah, but you know what you saw, right?**_ "

"… _ **No.**_ "

" _ **You saw Mint, right? She was there.**_ " Jingles reasoned. " _ **You understand how Ghosts turn into that form, right?**_ "

" _ **You're really fucking with me right now. If this is some sick joke-**_ "

" _ **I'm not joking right now. Does it sound like I'm having fun?**_ "

" _ **Okay, so I was in the Ascendant Plane, saw Mint and then I got bodied by some random Titan.**_ "

Jingles sighed over the mental link. " _ **I'm telling you, whatever is holding onto your arm, is not Cassandra. When you got knocked out, I saw her…take that girl from the pink mech.**_ "

" _ **You're absolutely fucking crazy right now.**_ "

" _ **I'm not! If you'll just listen to me for one fucking-**_ " The Ghost censored itself. " _ **Sorry.**_ "

Russell sighed in irritation. " _ **We'll discuss this later.**_ "

The Hunter used his free arm to gently shake Cassandra awake. "Hey, Cass…"

"Hm?" The Warlock blinked and looked towards Russell. "Russell?"

"Yeah, that's me." He rasped. In a sudden motion the red-head had wrapped him in the tightest hug he ever experienced.

"You're okay…" She whispered as her hand rubbed the back of his bandaged head. "Whoever hit you, they must have hit hard."

"Did you at least manage to kill him?" The Warlock paused at the question.

"…No. I couldn't, they…disappeared before I could put my hands on them and gouge their eyes out-" The Warlock stopped herself. "That was a bit crude. They disappeared…in black smoke, I could remember the evil chuckle the man gave as he left."

The description lined up with Reaper, number one on the Most Wanted list.

"… _ **Be vigilant, Guardian.**_ " Jingles said coldly.

Russell rested his head on the pillow. "How long was I out?" He coughed.

"…Approximately twelve hours and forty-seven minutes." Mint appeared. "How you feeling?" The Ghost asked sincerely.

"I'm doing fine, thanks Mint." Russell gave a dry chuckle, and gave the Light contraption a second glance. "Could you pass me some water?" He asked, as politely as he could.

"Oh! Of course." Cassandra said as she reached for a plastic bottle of water on the nightstand next to the medical bed. She promptly twisted the lid open and slowly fed the cold liquid to Russell's mouth. He was about to object, wanting to say something about his dignity, but the Warlock only hushed him.

"Everything will be alright…" She cooed, pulling the bottle away and sealing it with the cap.

Russell coughed a few more times before clearing his throat. "So…where to next?"

Cassandra only chuckled. "Oh no, dear, you need to rest."

"I'm fine." He sat himself up straight. "Besides, I got Jingles with me." The Hunter's Ghost appeared. "He'll patch me up better than whatever these guys can give me."

Jingles chuckled nervously. "Yeah…he's good to go, eh heh, heh." The Ghost quieted down and then disappeared.

" _ **You will want to get as far away as possible from this woman.**_ " Jingles said through their mental link.

"Nonsense, it looked like you were ran over by a Sparrow!" Cassandra sternly said as she crossed her arms. "Give me at least one good reason why you should leave."

Russell saw the South Korean general step into view.

"Uh, the general is probably going to hound us if we don't."

Cassandra turned around, and seemed to shoot a glare that made everyone around the war veteran flinch. She put on the best smile she could afterwards. "What can I do for you, general?" She asked.

"We need a testimony from the Gunslinger. We need to know what exactly happened." The general paused. "I am in no way accusing two of you of doing anything, but the circumstances are quite…suspicious to say the least."

An interpreter popped into view and started saying apologies in Korean towards the general, who only responded with a simple grunt in response.

Everybody turned to look towards Russell.

/

 _Lore entry unlocked: Russell Dulk, a student of Cayde-6_

 _Entry 4: A Hunter's perseverance_

Warlock Cassandra Messer looks bored at the roster for the enemy team. A match of survival versus a single person. She rolls her eyes as she thought of what could have possibly happened for that to happen. She wonders if it was the fact that she was playing with well-known Crucible fanatics, or simply because a full party versus four randoms was enough to scare off three Guardians?

She skims through the single name on the opposing team, and realizes the name is familiar to her.

 _Hey, it's your boyfriend!_ Fellow Warlock Ani-12 comments. _Wanna have fun with him? Now's the time!_ There's a laugh from a few other fireteam mates.

Cassandra's cheeks redden as her lips purse. She taps a few keys on her console and sends a message to Russell Dulk, getting no response.

He currently had equipped his Ace of Spades plus a Recluse SMG. Cassandra idly wonders how it is possible for someone as incompetent in the Crucible as Russell to be able to reach the rank of Fabled this early in the season.

Her fireteam's ships pull into Titan, the map is Wormhaven, a section of the massive Arcology. She didn't like the place very much, because it gives her bad feelings.

No matter, it was a four versus one against Russell Dulk, the Guardian equivalent to a teddy bear.

The first round begins, and her team establishes control of the Heavy ammo. Hunter Jess grabs it, loading her Tractor Cannon.

The team find no trace of Russell after scouring the entire area.

 _He's on-_ There are clanks in the distance as Ani-12 gets taken down. Cassandra deduces Russell's location by the location of the Ghost that spawned.

Russell now has life advantage, and there was only a few minutes left in the round.

Cassandra barely has any time to react as she sees her boyfriend practically fly past her and spray her down with the Recluse, killing her in less than a second. Russell flees as her teammates show up. Upon respawning, the round is over, with them being on the losing side due to life disadvantage.

 _Since when did he get good?_ Jess asks.

Cassandra shrugs as her team run towards the center of the map.

 _Don't play stupid, he's not as bad as he looks._ Ani-12 says. Russell shows his face and quickly dodges as he gets a peek of what he has to face. Cassandra picks up the heavy ammo, loading an Avalanche machine gun before giving chase alongside the rest of her team.

She has a bad feeling as they all form together in a single hallway. There is a sound of a Golden Gun being activated and before she knew it, her entire team was down.

Russell is sitting on a backwards holographic chair, staring intently at the four Ghosts. He stays quiet.

 _What's gotten into him?_ Cassandra loudly wonders as she respawns. Another round lost due to time.

 _Alright, we gotta literally fuck him up._ Titan Hestia mentions as she adjusts her One-Eyed Mask.

The team push for control of the heavy ammunition and pursue Russell until he has one life left. By then there's barely enough time for him to respawn, so to finish the round, Cassandra gives him a peck on the cheek.

The next two rounds go in their favor, and now the score is three-to-two, which is way too close considering the opposition.

Cassandra forms a plan in her mind, she would spring a trap.

A Golden Gun pops but the ability is rapidly extinguished by a Tractor Cannon from behind.

Cassandra held the rest of her team back while she pounced on the unfortunate Hunter.

Shaxx was not proud of the defilement and humiliation that took place. The location of the match's footage is only known to the five people that have participated.

None of them acknowledge that it even exists.

/

 _Sweden._

"So…you just decided to follow it?" Edgar asked as he caught up with Titan Crow, who only shrugged. "No objections, or anything? Just decided, oop! Let's go to Sweden! Whatever the Hell that is…"

Crow shrugged again. "I tried objecting, and didn't want to hurt him, so I just followed cause it ain't worth it, arguing with a robot."

Xiao rolled her eyes. "Really dragging us all into some stupid shit, huh?" She lightheartedly said.

Bastion had just gone underwater and was doing who-knows-what down there while Fireteam Jellybean followed it at a snail's pace from above. Xiao propped her feet up on the control screen of her ship and was scrounging around for something to chew on. Grumbling because she couldn't find anything, the Huntress went back to watching a red dot get closer to a shore that belonged to the nation of Sweden.

The three decided that it was smart to stay back and let Bastion get first contact. Xiao watched with renewed interest as their robot friend surfaced covered in sea creatures on a beach and caught the attention of two teenagers who were clearly about to get it going. They then screamed and ran away.

Edgar laughed over the radio link. "Poor children."

"Alright, fun time's over, let's get down there." Xiao said as she steered her ship to shore and then transmatted out of it, her Ghost doing the rest of the work. Edgar and Crow appeared at her sides. Bastion turned to them, gave a positive beep and then waved.

"Where's his bird?" Edgar asked, and as if the animal had heard him, it soared into view and landed on the wet robot. It chirped in what seemed like dissatisfaction as its nest was destroyed. "There it is."

The octopus on Bastion squirmed and fell from the robot's body, the rest of the sea animals following suit.

It was pretty late out, but Bastion was determined to do whatever it wanted to do, so the fireteam had no choice but to follow him.

 _A few hours later…_

The sun was beginning to rise. Rays of light poked through the mini crevices of the dense forest. Bastion was busy observing and playing with every little critter and thing while his personal bodyguards sat around, watching the robot with mild interest whilst chatting about whatever came up in conversation.

Xiao raised her fist as she heard footsteps and talking nearby, followed by clanking, like something was being setup. The fireteam shut up as they looked towards the source of the voices, peeking through trees as two men stood in the middle of the forest pathway: One short man, with a very long blonde beard and donning armor that seemed to have molten lava running through it, and a taller man, who wore a suit under a vest and had what looked like a submachine gun in his hands.

The short one threw a sort of ball in the middle of the pathway, then the two retreated behind the forestry, but it was pretty obvious to any decent eyes that they were there. Bastion was approaching from another side, and took interest in the ball that was very clearly a trap. Bastion's yellow bird, Ganymede flew from the robot's shoulder and puts its talons on the ball, chirping loudly.

The suited man opened fire on Bastion, and seemed to have missed every single shot, but made the robot flee back into the forest. The man went the other direction while the short one went to follow Bastion.

Fireteam Jellybean decided to follow the dwarf, tailing him from the shadows. He was mumbling something about the Bastion being different. They followed him to a stream, where Bastion was playing with some beavers. The man tried baiting the robot to shoot at him, but all Bastion offered was a pile of twigs.

Edgar accidentally pushed Crow with his elbow. "Hey, watch it!" The Titan angrily whispered.

"Sorry." The Warlock quietly replied.

Explosions sounded in the distance as the dwarf dived to the ground and then several armed men ran in with assault rifles, lead by the suited man with the SMG.

The two bickered about something before the smaller one detonated a trap ball and his colleagues to the trees.

The fireteam followed 'Mr. Dwarf', given the title by Xiao. The man approached Bastion, who was inspecting a flower, then was offered the plant. The dwarf was caught off guard by the offering, and took it, then went back to his angry demeanor.

Crow and Edgar were bickering in the background, which resulted in the Warlock being booted out of their cover and sent tumbling into the open. The robot turned around while making an inquisitive beep, and then looked down on Edgar who was hurriedly getting himself up and patting his robes of grass and dirt. Bastion then made a positive beep as it recognized him.

"That's…your friend?" The man asked.

Crow, still being loud, made their position known to the man, who then pointed a thick looking pistol towards their general direction. "Get out of there before I burn you all down."

Xiao threw Crow out into the open, the Titan accidentally banging his helmet against Bastion, who stepped back in surprise. The Huntress was the last one to step out, showing her hands to indicate that she was friendly.

"Us too." Xiao said. "Friendly guy, bit ambitious though."

The man sighed. "First, you point a gun at me and you're all slag." He said in an angry tone. "Now follow me."

Xiao rolled her eyes as her two teammates continued bickering and started throwing hits at each other. A simple stern look at them and a nod towards their destination made them stop.

She was beginning to see why people at the Tower considered her the 'Hunter Mom'.

. . .

As the group of four plus a war machine traversed across the city, people shied away from them, preferring to not get closer to the big robot with a machine gun. Xiao stretched her arms as she glanced towards the small crowd that surrounded them, keeping enough distance to give them enough room to move around, whilst keeping their pace.

There were whispers being spread as the Huntress shot a glare towards a man who was giving her a look she didn't like. The man flinched and backed off.

The attention of the populace was taken by a giant screen that was displaying what looked like a news channel.

" _The disappearance of Hana Song, better known as D'Va, and her entire squadron, have not yet been explained. The South Korean government are pressing for details from the two other agents sent to accompany them, but we have yet to hear from them._ " Xiao stopped to look at the screen, being left behind by the rest of the group. " _On screen right now is the last photo that has been taken by our drone during the assault on the Talon stronghold._ " An image appeared, one depicting the one and only Russell Dulk rushing into a pack of Taken. Not much else could be described as most of the picture was taken up by dark blotches.

The news anchor paused and leaned forward, a hand pressing on her earpiece. " _Breaking news, the Cloaked Gunslinger has given a response as to what might have occurred._ " The image switched to Russell, who was sitting on a sofa chair looking passively at the interviewer.

The interviewer barraged the Hunter with questions but the man was tough to crack, only giving precise enough answers to satisfy them, yet vague enough to not disclose any inflammatory information.

Xiao opened a radio link to her fireteam. "I think I found one of our targets…"

/

Russell bit his lip as he looked at the phone number Sombra gave to him before she disappeared from the face of the world. His thumb hovered over the dial button, hesitant to press it. He knew that Cassandra didn't like the hacker, but with the revelation that Talon was bringing Taken into this world, it was very tempting to re-establish contact.

Russell took a deep breath before tapping on the dial button and bringing his phone to his ear. A few beeps and a line was connected.

"Sombra, I need your help." Russell began. "Particularly, I need information."

"…Meet me at the coordinates I just sent." Was the prompt reply, before the connection was cut off. Russell sighed as he pocketed his phone, the coordinates displaying on the side of his HUD.

" _ **Let's get going.**_ " Jingles promptly said before the Hunter was transmatted into his ship. He opened a radio link to Cassandra.

"Hey, uh, Cass. Winston just called me, I'm being reassigned to Switzerland while you have to stay here and deal with the South Koreans." Russell inhaled. "I'll see you soon." He closed the link soon after, not giving a chance for his significant other to reply.

The Hunter shakily sighed as his ship flew into orbit, and coordinates to Numbani were inputted.

. . .

The Hunter landed with a soft thud as he looked at the purple trench coat-wearing hacker standing at the edge of the apartment building they found themselves on.

"Hey, Russell." Sombra said as she turned to face him. Her appearance definitely changed, the left side of her head was barren of hair, replaced by implants while the rest was combed over to the right, reaching towards her shoulder. She definitely took the purple color in stride, with accents on her hair, her aforementioned trench coat, some implants were also glowing purple, and there could be a million other things that Russell could remark about her, all leading to the same color. "Long time no see, eh?" She cracked a massive grin.

"Hey, Sombra." Russell replied. "…I need your help."

"Well, duh, that's why you're here." The hacker she cocked her head to the side. "So, what is it? Talon? Overwatch? Who's pissing you off?"

"…Have you ever heard of the Taken?" The Hunter asked. Sombra was caught offguard by the question. "You know, those completely black…things that warp into existence and take people with them and then come back with more?"

"…That's what they're called? Taken?" Sombra's brows furrowed as she took in the information. "Yeah, I know about them. In fact they're causing me some problems. Friend of mine almost got…taken, and he's uh, not doing well right now."

One of Russell's brows raised. "You mean…he survived?"

"Yeah, tough guy. Do me a favor and I'll owe you a big one." Sombra paused. "What do you say? You help my friend, and then I'll provide you with anything you want, information, money, whatever you can dream of."

"Offer's tempting." Russell tilted his head. "Let me see your friend first. I'll see what my…drone can do about it."

"Shake on it?" Sombra extended her hand. Russell quickly grabbed it and lightly shook. "Perfect, let's get going, follow me."

. . .

The hacker led Russell to an abandoned looking building, but inside was everything but. The interior was speck-free and clean. Scientists walked back and forth the hallways as they fiddled with their tablets. He was led to a research lab that was observing a large black man in a medical bed.

The man definitely did run into the Taken, as black blotches were peppered all over his body, and he seemed to be mumbling something while asleep. There was a speaker playing what he was saying, but it was only cries for 'it' to stop and for whoever he was seeing to leave him alone.

"He's normally a fierce guy. Never backed down." Sombra said as she crossed her arms, looking at the man empathetically. "His name's Doomfist. Whoever he ran into…they nearly broke him."

Jingles materialized. "Let us in there, maybe I can talk to him."

Sombra eyed the Light construct. "You dealt with this stuff before?"

"…Kind of." Jingles turned towards Doomfist. "He's…definitely on the edge of being Taken. Part of himself is in the Ascendant Plane."

"That's kinda obvious." Sombra replied. "What can we do? Feels weird to say this, but I feel bad for him."

"Yeah, everyone should be. He's gonna be suffering for a while if we don't do something about it." Jingles turned back to face Sombra.

"What can we do?" The hacker asked.

"Take out whoever's in charge of all this." The Ghost floated over to a computer terminal. "We might have some leads, but nothing concrete yet."

" _ **I swear to the fucking Traveler if you accuse Cassandra-**_ " Russell's fist balled up.

" _ **I'm not accusing anyone.**_ " The Hunter loosened it.

"How would we do that? We don't even know him, or her!"

"…We're gonna have to bait them out."

"With what?"

Sombra and Russell looked at the bedridden Doomfist. "I am so sorry."

The hacker sighed. "If it has to be done."

/

Cassandra Messer teleported her way to Numbani. She was here to finish the job on that Doomfist fellow. Her Knight, Nukryl the Loyal, warped to behind her. It kneeled as she turned around.

"You know what to do." Cassandra said as she nodded her head towards the abandoned building. "I want you to bring him to me, if you don't…" The Warlock let herself stop there, knowing that her servant would get the message.

" **Yes…my Queen. I am your Loyal…and I will not fail you, like all the others.** " The Knight stood up and wielded its massive sword.

"Good." Cassandra said. "Now get the job done."

The two slowly approached the building, shaking the ground with every step as the Knight broke the front entrance down, creating a path for them.

An alarm soon rang as security guards scrambled to their position and aimed weapons at them. Cassandra looked at them pitifully. Humans were so fragile, ripe for the taking. The Warlock held a twisted smile as she nodded to her Knight, who rushed one of the security guards and crushed him with its sword, eviscerating the man and taking him.

Cassandra threw an arc grenade, taking down three more security guards. The remaining ones fled into the building, calling for backup. The Taken Guardian and her Knight slowly advanced into the complex. Blotches of Taken energy appeared on the walls as they passed. A roar sounded behind them and she felt the presence of her minions.

The Warlock stopped at a reinforced door. "Tear it down."

Nukryl nodded as the Knight slashed into the steel door, tearing it in half and then kicking whatever was left. A flurry of gunfire staggered her Loyal and he was pushed back by a particularly powerful sniper rifle that had a recognizable thump to it.

Cassandra paled, she backed away from the open corridor. "We are to leave, now. Nukryl, you hold them off."

" **Yes…I will meet you at the Ascendant Realm.** "

"Good." The Warlock said before turning around and bolting the other direction. Nukryl brandished his shield, rushing into the dug-in enemies.

Cassandra opened a portal to her Ascendant Realm and jumped in.

She was not expecting her Loyal Knight to be back.

/

Russell kept triple tapping the Primeval Knight's head, restoring his ammo every time he emptied a magazine. The Taken Knight staggered as it hesitated in its assault, not knowing what to do. The Hunter took advantage of it and pressed into battle, equipping the _Wishbringer_ , a pity gift from Shaxx after a humiliating 1v4 defeat. He fired two shells into the staggered Taken Knight, knocking it backwards. It screeched in pain and fury.

The Knight let loose blobs of a fiery substance, hitting Russell with it and the floor behind him. It felt like his body was lit aflame, but he pressed on. Russell slid between its legs, landing a shell into its crotch before flipping onto his back, unloading the remainder of his shells into the backside of the beast.

The Hunter kicked himself up and went in for a quick stab before backing up just in time to avoid the Knight's stomp. The ground shook as the Taken being screeched once more before opening a portal underneath itself, and falling inside.

The portal stayed open, beckoning Russell to jump in.

He looked towards Sombra who waved her hands around as if to say 'I don't know'. He nodded to the hacker before hopping in.

The portal took him back to the Ascendant Plane. The platform he landed on was spacious and clear of any debris, like an arena. It was surrounded by cliffs that overlooked the area, with multiple Taken beings materializing on them, looking downwards to the Hunter.

The Knight from before warped in above a rune. It brandished its sword and shield as it screeched once more.

" **Being of Light! You shall PERISH IN THIS REALM! For I am Nukryl, Loyal to the Taken Queen, and you will be my greatest triumph!** " A deep, omnipotent voice said. The Knight stabbed its sword into the ground and dark energy swirled around it. Nukryl screeched before wielding the weapon, now looking rejuvenated.

Russell grit his teeth as he evaded a slash from the Knight, the impact on the floor knocking him back. The Hunter twirled the Ace of Spades in his hand, letting loose three shots before sliding downwards, narrowly missing a jab from his opponent. He knew that one hit of that thing would bring him down.

The Hunter felt his Super ability ready, and hopped to the air, double jumping to gain more altitude before letting loose a barrage of explosive blades, staggering the Knight and making it angrier. It screeched, and its pace accelerated.

Russell let off a few more shots from his revolver, but Nukryl was fast enough to deflect every bullet, sending them straight back to him. The Hunter rolled to the side, evading another smash from the massive sword, and due to Russell's relatively lightweight physique, the shockwave from it sent him flying into a cliff.

His back made contact with the hard rock, and he fell downwards. Russell shook his head as he slowly and unsteadily stood back up.

" _ **Jingles, switch Thunderlord for my sword.**_ " The Hunter grit his teeth as the _Abide the Return_ materialized in his hands. His fingers felt the grip of the blade, appreciating every single detail before he rushed into the fray.

The Knight slashed sideways, and Russell jumped over it and landed a slice on its thick, bony armor. Nukryl was quick to reply with a jab from its free arm, but this was parried by the Hunter's sword.

Russell grit his teeth as he pushed the arm away and went straight for a stab into its heart, the only exposed part he could see. Nukryl grabbed him by the throat and threw him away.

His sword clanked to the floor. Shakily standing up, he scrambled to grasp his weapon, barely ready for another barrage of attacks from his opponent.

Blades clashed, one being significantly larger and bonier than the other. They both equaled in strength as Russell put his all into deflecting a downwards smash that had every right to crush him. He screamed as he focused all his energy into pushing the Knight's massive sword away, he was successful in doing so, and made the beast stagger backwards. Russell took the opportunity to jump up and shove a primed Incendiary grenade into its chest cavity. The explosive blew up and tore apart the armor on its chest, burning it to a crisp.

" **You are a mighty one, Light bearer!** " Nukryl commented as the Knight wielded its sword once more. " **Unfortunately, it is a futile effort! You shall perish in this realm and your Light shall be gifted to the Queen!** "

"Who the fuck is the Queen!?" Russell screamed back as he rushed into battle, sliding underneath the Knight, hopping up behind it and then swinging into its back with his sword.

Nukryl staggered forward. Russell was surprised he was able to hit that hard.

In fact, it was quite literally impossible for him to be that strong. Something was supporting him, giving him strength, and it definitely wasn't the Light.

" _ **Taken Strength…you have to get out of here, before it consumes you.**_ " Jingles gravely said.

" **How!?** " Nukryl exclaimed before turning around and stomping with its foot, sending a massive shockwave that forced Russell backwards.

A portal opened behind the Hunter and he was thrown right into it.

He tumbled onto his back and landed at the feet of the one and only Petra Venj. Russell groaned as he got up.

"Guardian? Russell?" Petra asked as she helped the Hunter up. "It's been a while since I've seen you. Is everything alright? And could you explain the portal?"

Russell dusted himself off. "Not much time to explain. Ascendant Plane, alternate Earth, Primeval Knight, Taken Queen. I'm going back in." He rushed back into the portal.

It took him back into the arena. Russell's opponent, the Primeval Knight was on its knees, looking upwards towards a massive Taken servitor. He liked to call these things 'Meatball'.

The giant Meatball looked downwards at the Knight.

" **Coward.** " It said, and it kept on repeating the same word, the voice sounded like it was in Russell's head. " **Coward. The Queen will be displeased at your cowardice.** "

The Primeval Knight took a defiant stance. " **I am not a coward!** " It exclaimed.

" **Oh, but you are.** " The Taken Servitor shot a giant laser at the Knight, eviscerating it immediately, and it seemed like it was just deleted from the Ascendant Plane, as if it never happened.

The Servitor looked towards Russell. " **…You, the Queen would like to see you.** " Tentacles materialized around it and quickly grabbed the Hunter's appendages, pinning him mid-air.

Russell struggled but its grip was too strong, and a tentacle was finding its way around his neck and harshly tightened on it, black spots were appearing in his vision as he felt himself becoming light.

" _ **Jingles, do something!**_ " Russell said in a panic as he attempted to stay conscious.

" _ **I-I can't!**_ " The world went black.

/

Xiao grabbed the cup of steaming tea, bringing the container to her lips as she sipped the piping hot beverage. She felt herself getting relaxed as the hot liquid went down her throat and into her stomach, warming her up along the way.

The Huntress exhaled and looked towards Edgar, who was busy chowing down on a freshly prepared plate of deer meat, vegetables and mashed potatoes that was still steaming. She looked over to Crow who was talking with Bastion, though the conversation was mostly one-sided.

"Thanks, we really appreciate it." Xiao said as she put down the cup, nodding gratefully towards their hostess, who smiled in return. "…It's been a while since any of us had a decent meal. Is there any way we can pay you back?" She chuckled grimly, and a tinge of sadness overcame her.

"Oh, don't worry about it. My hotel is always open to friends of Torbjörn, although the Bastion unit is odd. I should introduce myself, I am Freya Lun. Call me Freya." The hostess said as she picked up the empty plates off the table.

"It's docile, you're telling me that these things were war machines at some point?" Edgar piped up, glancing towards Bastion.

"Yes…they were the main force during the Omnic Crisis. They terrorized us all and…" Freya closed her eyes and looked away. "Sorry, It's just…hard to talk about this."

"Oh, if you're not comfortable, then…" Edgar stopped himself as he saw tears run down the woman's cheeks. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

Freya quickly wiped away her tears. "No, it's alright. I will have to face it at one point of my life. You three must get going now, I assume?"

"Would it be possible if we stay a night?" Xiao asked, patting her hair down as it suddenly stood up, and the giggling Titan in the corner with the giant robot seemed to be the one responsible for it.

"Oh, of course! I think I have a few rooms open." Freya went to a computer terminal, and scrolled through a list of rooms that were dotted red and green. "Rooms two-four-six, two-five-eight, and two-three-two are free, this night is on the house."

"Thanks, I can't really describe how much of an amazing woman you are. Back home I would've been told to piss off already." Xiao chuckled. "Such is life at the Tower." She muttered.

Freya laughed. "Don't worry, we all have to help each other out. Today is my favor to you, someday you'll return it, however you feel is right." She flashed a smile.

"Oh, the favor in return will be grand." Xiao laughed. "Thanks."

Freya nodded, and the fireteam headed towards the rooms they called dibs on.

* * *

 **Edit: As you can tell, I changed some things, and some stuff won't match up in the later chapters, I'll rectify this later on.**


	9. On the Run

Cassandra Messer was not at all a morning person. If anything, she'd rather just laze in bed all day with her lover. Her eyes blinked as her vision cleared from the haze of tiredness, too late, she was already awake, might as well get the day going. As she tried moving, someone let out a small adorable mumble and latched onto her arm. She looked towards the figure in bed with her.

Ah, right, Russell. She smiled as her hand ruffled his hair and her arm proceeded to wrap around the man at her side. He seemed happy with the attempt to cuddle, pressing closer to her, she could feel his hot breath on her neck.

The soft smile stayed on her face as she laid back down, face-to-face with her significant other.

"It's time to get up, Russ…"

"Give me a few more minutes…with you." The black-haired man nuzzled against her neck, a hot breath being let out onto her collarbone. "It's too early."

The Warlock blinked as her hand found Russell's cheek, she brought the man's face against hers and got her lips ready…

And woke up.

Cassandra looked at the time, grumbling at the fact that her dream was interrupted so rudely. Russell was still at her side, but he was facing the other direction. She sighed as her hand rubbed his shoulder.

Mint appeared to her side. " _ **So…**_ " The Ghost said in an amused tone. Cassandra's face reddened as she looked at the contraption. " _ **I'm gonna assume you were getting into it?**_ "

"Screw off…" Cassandra mumbled in reply as she cleaned up her frazzled and messy hair, pulling it into a neat ponytail before reaching over for a hair tie and finishing up. "It was getting good…" She grumbled as her feet met the cold floor.

The Warlock shuddered as she sat on the side of the bed. She looked towards Russell, who was still dozing off. "He's so adorable, don't you think?"

" _ **Hey, he's your boyfriend, not mine.**_ " Mint mused as the Ghost disappeared from view.

"Mmh?" Russell's head slightly raised as his head turned to the other side. "Wha-what?" The Hunter's body turned to face Cassandra.

The Warlock simply chuckled as her hand caressed Russell's cheek. "Go back to bed, I'll get breakfast ready." She said, smoothing her thumb over his cheekbone.

Russell's head fell back into his bed, his face turning into it. "Why do you have to get up so early…" He mumbled.

"Have to experience life as much as you can, my dear Hunter." Cassandra mused as she made her way to the bathroom. "Can't waste it by sleeping all day."

Russell groaned as his head pressed further into the pillow. Cassandra giggled as she closed the washroom door behind her.

/

" _ **Man…she's an early bird.**_ " Russell mused through the mental link, digging his head into the pillow, then grabbing Cassandra's and stacking it on top of him, to minimize the amount of light that got to him.

" _ **Yeah…they copied her pretty well.**_ " Jingles replied gravely.

" _ **Can you piss off with the Taken shit for one second?**_ "

" _ **No, I can't. Whatever took the form of Cassandra is literally pulling you into the Darkness.**_ " The Ghost replied, frustrated.

" _ **Yeah, sure.**_ " Russell replied sarcastically.

" _ **I'm serious.**_ "

" _ **Definitely.**_ "

Russell sighed. " _ **…Why can't I remember how I got here?**_ "

Jingles audibly sighed. " _ **When that Servitor choked you out…Cassandra took your memories of that day.**_ "

The Hunter's brows furrowed. " _ **You're telling me that she can wipe my memory?**_ "

" _ **She can, but fortunately, I'm here. I can give you some pieces, but I can't save everything."**_

Russell nodded. " _ **Do it.**_ " A shock took him by surprise and stunned him for a few seconds before everything was calm again. He saw some vivid images of the Ascendant Plane, Sombra, that Doomfist fellow, and a Primeval Taken Knight. They all just flashed in an instant and were all jumbled together, with no coherent order.

" _ **Just…contact Sombra again. I think Talon have been successful in creating a portal to Cassandra's Ascendant Realm.**_ " Russell paused at the statement. " _ **Yeah, I know. That Knight dropped tons of…stuff that gave them the possibility to do it.**_ "

" _ **Something's telling me you're being completely serious.**_ "

" _ **When am I not serious?**_ " Russell closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He kept his eyes shut as he thought of a plan.

Hunters weren't exactly the best at creating plans, so that was a pointless effort. Russell exhaled and opened his eyes, stretching his arms as his feet met the ground.

Cassandra calling him for breakfast made him stand up. Russell fumbled his way out of the bedroom and took many wrong turns heading for the kitchen. It smelled of toast and eggs as Cassandra zipped around the kitchen, preparing plates and getting breakfast ready.

"Good, you're awake!" Cassandra cheerily said as she placed the two plates on opposite sides of the small dining table inside the kitchen.

Russell looked at the plate hesitantly.

"Well, go on, try it!" The Warlock said Russell snapped out of his thoughts. "…Is something wrong?" Her face showed an expression of worry.

"No! No, I'm just…thinking." Russell paused.

"Thinking about what, exactly?" Cassandra prodded as she stacked her omelet onto a slice of bread, then putting another slice on top of that, creating a nice little sandwich. "Is something bothering you?"

"It's just…" Russell bit his lip. "It's the Taken that are worrying me, y'know? You can tell I really don't like them…and now that they're here…" He sighed. "You could just say that I'm scared about everything."

Cassandra chuckled. "Oh, don't worry about it. Once we get into the groove this will be just another fight against the Darkness!"

Russell grabbed a cup and poured some coffee, then sat down across from Cassandra. He took a sip as his eyes scanned her behind the cup. She looked normal, nothing seemed off.

Nothing ever seemed to be off which the one and only Cassandra Messer.

/

"I got a ping from Russell's Ghost. He was last seen…here." Xiao pointed to a rundown building in the city of Numbani. "There seems to have been Taken activity around this area. Also spotted here was our one and only Cassandra. I'm willing to bet a portal opened up and Russell jumped in. Saw signs of a Primeval Knight too."

"Primeval? I thought only the Drifter could make those?" Edgar asked. "You're telling me our target has the ability to summon Primevals?"

Xiao nodded. "Now, we do know where Russell is currently." The map switched to another place in the world, this time focusing to the northern country of Canada. "He's here, to be exact."

"Okay, since we know that, why don't we just get him?" Crow crossed his arms, and Xiao shook her head.

"Jingles is telling me that Cassandra's being a bit…possessive about him. Never wants to leave his side."

"Okay, two birds in one stone, we get them both." Edgar suggested as he cracked his knuckles.

"Cassandra will massacre us. Lay us out to dry and then make out with her boyfriend, while at the same time that sack of bricks won't even know what happened." Xiao grimly said. "And I'm completely serious about that."

Edgar looked surprised. "You're kidding?"

"Nope. She's an amazing all-round fighter. Better than anyone I know, compounded with her Taken abilities…it doesn't look good for any of us one-on-one. Two reasons I think we can take her on is 'cause there's three of us and that I have this bad boy." The Huntress held up _Malfeasance._ "It does tons of damage versus Guardians and Taken. Reason Shaxx banned in from the Crucible is because it actually killed, beyond revival, reminded him too much of Thorn."

"What, are we gonna melt her like we do with Primevals?" Edgar chuckled. "Crow, you reckon we can try that?"

Titan Crow shrugged. "I mean, we can. Don't expect to get out alive, but it's a possibility."

"Let's get serious. We have a big target to bag, and an even bigger one to eliminate." Xiao put her hands on the wooden table that served as the surface for their holographic map. It was old and creaked as her fingers pressed down on it. "We'll bait Russell with some Taken, open a portal, have him jump in, and Crow you do what you do best."

"Shoulder-charge him?" Crow asked while a One-Eyed Mask materialized on his head.

"Exactly. Then we tie him up and bring him back here, to this nice, comfortable motel." Xiao crossed her arms. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, what do we exactly do with him, once he's with us?" Crow asked as he looked towards the Huntress. "I mean, he's a liability."

"Throw him back in the Dreaming City, he can go hit up Petra or something." Edgar butted in. "She seems to have a thing for sarcastic Hunters." Edgar snarked.

Xiao rolled her eyes. "We'll figure that out once we get there."

"Also, what about Bastion?"

"He can come along."

"Hell yeah."

. . .

 _A few hours later…_

Hunters and Huntresses were known for their intricate traps, every single step their target would take was planned, and the execution would be deadly. It worked on everyone, from lowly criminals to fellow Guardians.

And before you know it, you're either bagged or dead.

Xiao walked the empty underpass of a highway in Toronto. Devoid of life and activity, this was the perfect place to set the bait. The Huntress looked to her comrades who were up on a building to the left, then back to the ground. She brought out her Ghost.

Whatever Taken presence was in this area, would never resist the temptation of an exposed Ghost, ready to be consumed. It would be a few seconds until something would warp in. Jingles would warn Russell, and the bone-headed Hunter would rush into battle. A portal would open, he would jump inside and they would catch him there.

" _ **Hey, this is Jingles. Russell is a bit held up with…stuff regarding his girlfriend.**_ " Xiao raised her brow as her Ghost dematerialized from her palm. " _ **She's…mad at him, for some reason.**_ "

" _ **Mad?**_ " Xiao asked. " _ **What could she possibly be mad at him for? She's head over heels in love with him!**_ "

" _ **Yeah…and I've managed to somewhat crack that feeling in Russell. He's uneasy about her. I think I'm actually getting through to him.**_ " Jingles paused. " _ **You might want hold off a bit.**_ "

A feed of what was happening in their apartment was fed into the fireteam's radio link.

" _What were you doing in Numbani? You said you were going to Switzerland_!" Cassandra's voice rang through their communications link, pretty voice, although the usual formal tone wasn't present. " _Just please, tell me what you were doing there? Was it a route-stop_?"

" _It's…_ " Russell paused. " _You won't like it_."

There was an exhale. " _Well, go on._ "

" _I had to talk to someone you don't particularly like…_ " The tension was palpable, and Xiao was holding her breath. " _She contacted me and had information on the Taken…I bit. Taken spawned there, I fought them off and…_ "

" _And what?_ "

" _I…don't remember what happened after that_." Xiao could definitely tell Russell was lying through his teeth.

There was another exhale. " _Russell…_ "

The radio link was cut. Xiao pulled out her Ghost once more and waited, keeping her eyes vigilant.

Soon enough, the Taken began appearing. Multiple black blobs appeared as Taken Psions, Phalanxes, Vandals, Thrall, and Acolytes appeared. Xiao wielded Malfeasance and began firing, picking off the Vandals first as those would definitely pose a sizeable annoyance.

" _ **He took the bait! He's on his way out right now!**_ " Jingles' voice was excited.

" _Up on the rooftop! He's jumping down!_ " Edgar said. Xiao quickly pulled out of the area, activating a temporary invisibility ability that gave her enough time to leave the mob of Taken without being shot at. The Huntress made her way to a dark alleyway, next to the building her fireteam was on.

The Huntress was stopped by a brown woman in a purple trench coat. She looked like one of those cyberpunk City dwellers that modified their own bodies until they were mostly mechanical. The woman held an Uzi in one hand and the other was tapping at a holographic touchpad in the air.

Xiao blinked as she looked down the barrel of the weapon. She could barely stifle her laughter as the oh-so-hilarious thought of that measly weapon attempting to land a scratch on her helmet.

"I'll talk because you aren't, you know how to summon that stuff? The Taken, I mean." The woman had a unique accent and sounded cocky. "My friend's been looking for the source of these demons, and I think I've found it. Prove me wrong."

Xiao gripped the skinny arm that held trench coat woman's weapon and gently coaxed in downwards.

"First of all, put the gun down so we can talk. Second of all, who are you talking about?" Xiao looked behind as the signature 'Clank' of the Ace of Spades made its way to her ears, multiple times. "Is it that guy out there, right now?" She glanced behind her.

"Is it bad if I said yes?" The woman asked.

"No. Just, uh, stay back, I guess."

" _Hey, uh, Xiao, we got a green ninja here with us. He's interested in the Taken too, he says he's peaceful, and seems to get along with Bastion really well. Pretty chill, if I say so myself._ " Crow's voice rang through their communication link.

" _ **Xiao, this woman is friendly. Russell knows her.**_ " Jingles informed. Xiao moved her other hand away from the holster for Malfeasance. " _ **Her name's Sombra.**_ "

"So, Sombra. You're friends with Russell?" The woman, now identified as Sombra, looked surprised.

"How do you know my name? We just barely met." Sombra said, keeping her grip tight on her SMG.

"A little jingle told me." Xiao said curtly. "Look, you know his girlfriend? Red-headed, polite, and all that?"

"Uh…yeah?"

"Let's talk on the roof."

/

Russell grit his teeth as he stabbed a Taken Psion. His body twirled as he threw three spinning blades that made contact with three different Taken enemies, one Acolyte and two Thrall. Speaking of which, the Thrall rushed him in massive numbers, nearly overwhelming him as he slowly backed up, losing his ground in this fight of attrition versus the swarm of Taken.

Russell ducked a swipe from a Thrall and quickly stabbed it, double jumping into the air then throwing down an Incendiary grenade to the pile of enemies below him. He rolled away from the ensuing explosion, dodging a shield bash from a Taken Phalanx. The Hunter shot the being's legs and went in for a quick stab, sending it back to the Ascendant Plane. A familiar roar sounded, which meant more were about to spawn in.

More Taken Thrall popped in as Russell readied himself once more. Acolytes shot him from afar, spawning their Eyes that constantly barraged him. He threw more blades out, jumped above and dropped onto a Psion, stomping his boot on the knocked down beast, warping it away.

The Thrall kept on rushing him, and a lucky jab at Russell's gun arm caught him off guard as he was pulled into the swarm. The Thrall kept on pummeling him as he was knocked down. Their screeches filled his ears as he felt himself getting weaker, there was a beeping as his health went lower and lower. His Blade Barrage was ready and he was willing enough to risk it.

Suddenly, they were off him, and were gone. Russell coughed and shakily stood up, looking in front of him, a man completely covered in armor with green accents wielding a nice-looking katana. The man was leaned forward as he sheathed his weapon, then turned to face Russell.

"Russell-san." The man took a short bow. "It is good to see you again."

"Genji?" Russell asked as he holstered the Ace of Spades. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been investigating these so-called…Taken, and you seem to be the leading expert on them, as I'm told by your…colleagues." Genji looked upwards, to the rooftop of a building behind him, then maintained eye contact with Russell.

"Colleagues?" Russell asked. He looked behind himself. "Where?"

"Are you not familiar with them?"

"No?"

"…Huh." Genji seemed to not be looking at Russell, but behind him.

"What's behind me-" Russell turned around to see a hulking Titan shoulder-charging straight into him. "Oh shi-" He interrupted himself as he rolled to the side.

"What the fuck!?" He screamed as he unholstered Ace once more, pointing it towards the Titan. "Who the Hell are you!?"

The Titan surprisingly raised his hands. "Whoa! Friendly!"

"You could've, you know, not shoulder-charge me to say that!" Russell screamed back. "What do you want!?"

"Get on your knees." A venomous, feminine voice said from behind. Russell could feel the ice-cold feeling of a particular hand cannon press itself against his neck. It was a particular cold, not the cool metal of a regular weapon, it was the feeling of a gun that was made out of bad intentions, one that counteracted the Light, and would extinguish it forever if given the chance.

 _Malfeasance_. He knew only one person who was crazy enough to wield the weapon. "Xiao."

"Russell. It's been a while." The woman said as she forced Russell to his knees. Normally he would've tried to resist, but this was Xiao Zhen that was holding him down. Number one Gambit invader, and one of Shaxx's favorite Crucible fighters. She could break his legs in three seconds flat.

And yes, that estimate was from personal experience.

"You know, I had a full plan set out to capture you." Xiao paused. "Of course, these two had to show up." Sombra appeared to his left and Genji stood to his right. "In hindsight, I might have overdone it."

"Look, it's nothing personal." The Titan said.

" **You have all made a grave mistake…** " A demonic, female voice said. " **Let. Him. Go**."

"Knock him out, I'll deal with her!" Xiao said as she gripped her weapon with both hands and turned around.

The Titan punched Russell with the force of a truck, dazing him, before going in for the finishing blow and shoulder charging him. Gunfire erupted from behind.

For the third time that week, there was a Guardian down.

/

Xiao shot a few rounds of Malfeasance towards the enraged Taken Warlock, clusters staggering her as she snarled and rushed the Huntress.

Crow, Edgar and Sombra dealt with Russell. Xiao knew that she was on limited time right now, she had to hold Cassandra off so they could escape. She kept firing at the Taken Guardian, advancing forward as she pushed the woman back.

Genji ran to a pillar and hopped off of it, then attempted a slash at Cassandra.

Attempt being quite emphasized. Cassandra's reacted impossibly quickly and grabbed the ninja's throat then slammed him to the ground with inhuman strength. The ground caved in under the cyborg. There was a snarl from the Taken Warlock as a massive sword materialized in her hands, one that a Hive Knight would wield, and then rushed Xiao, zipping from side to side as she made her approach.

Xiao narrowly evaded a smash from the sword as she loaded a fresh cylinder into her hand cannon. She continued firing while backing up, preferring not getting into a sword battle.

" **What do you want with him!?** " Cassandra snarled as she rushed at Xiao with ungodly speed. " **Why can't you just leave us alone!?** " Her voice was twisted, and omnipotent sounding, like she was a Goddess or something.

"Fuck you woman!" Xiao screamed back as she ducked a sideways slice meant to take off her torso. She shot Cassandra's hands to force her to let go of her massive sword.

Cassandra threw a blob of Arc energy with what seemed to be Taken energy infused at Xiao, striking her hard in the chest. It shocked and burned her in excruciating pain that would most likely rank in the top two worst feelings she ever felt.

Xiao snarled as she went for a stab at Cassandra, only for her wrist to be grabbed and then promptly crushed. She grit her teeth as she was forced onto her knees.

" **Where are you taking him!?** " Cassandra ordered as she kept a tight grip on Xiao's hands. " **Tell me!** " She sounded desperate, and angry.

Very angry.

"I ain't tellin' you shit, woman." Xiao screamed in pain as her arm was twisted and promptly broken. Mac would heal that up quick, hopefully. "You're goin' down, and he'll be the one to pull the trigger."

Cassandra was about to say something, but was interrupted.

The Taken Warlock was slashed at from behind by Genji, who wielded his katana and was holding up quite well against what seemed to be the new Taken Queen.

Cassandra staggered forward and turned towards Genji. " **Foolish.** " She said as a pistol materialized in her hand.

She shot at the ninja, who deflected the bullets back at her.

Genji, with cyborg speed, quickly picked Xiao up and carried her to a rooftop, keeping his feet quick as he outpaced Cassandra and eventually lost her.

"She is a powerful one, beyond anything I have seen before. We must defeat her before it is too late." Genji said as he gently put Xiao down, leaning her against an air conditioning unit. "Are you okay?"

Xiao coughed blood. "Yeah-Yeah I'm fine." She coughed some more as her Ghost appeared and scanned her. "Mac, you got me, right?"

"Of course, I always do." Mac blasted his Guardian with rays of Light, and just like that, Xiao was ready to fight once more. "There, all good now."

"Impressive." Genji said. "…Would it be alright if I followed you?"

Xiao chuckled. "Sure, cyborg ninja dude." She stood herself up.

Genji chuckled in reply. "Very well." Then gave a quick nod.

/

"Jingles…can you please warn me when…" Russell drawled out as his mind stopped working for a second. "When a massive fucking Titan is…" He decided not to bother continuing, as his head felt like it was trampled over by a Cabal Colossus. "Fuck my head hurts…"

Jingles attempted to establish a mental link, but that just made his head hurt even more. "Ow! Don't do that!"

"Sorry." Jingles materialized in front of the dazed Hunter, who was bound to a comfy chair. "I'll fix you up." The Ghost blasted beams of Light at him, clearing his head and his vision.

A single dim lamp shone on that same Titan that shoulder-charged him, he was sitting backwards on a holographic chair. The man kept an intense gaze underneath his Reverie Dawn Casque.

"And could we cool it with the whole 'knocking Russell out' thing? It's getting pretty annoying." Russell muttered, blinking a few times. "Anyways, what do you want?"

"Straight to business, you're still the same Russell I know." Xiao's voice said from a dark corner.

The lights went on, revealing five other figures in the cozy looking room. The lights were warm and welcoming, there was a big mirror on a wall and opposite to it was a nice, cozy-looking bed.

In fact, Russell was tied to a loveseat.

One of the figures in the room was a massive Bastion Omnic. It beeped and booped while its head tracked and followed a yellow bird that flew from furniture piece to furniture piece. Russell blinked an extra few times in order to verify that he was indeed sane, and then looked to everyone else.

Sombra, Xiao Zhen, Edgar Malcolm, and Genji.

"Xiao, looking lovely as ever." He looked towards Xiao Zhen, who rolled her eyes in response.

"I'll keep this simple. Your girlfriend, Cassandra, isn't right in the head. In fact, she isn't right anywhere." The Huntress said.

Russell opened his mouth to say something in defense of Cassandra but the Titan tilting his head downwards slightly made him shut up.

"We've been sent by the Vanguard to put a bullet in her head." Edgar Malcolm said, making Russell tense up. "Now, I know it's hard to hear, but she's looking to occupy the grand throne of the Taken royalty, something like that I think."

Russell blinked a few more times, taking in the information that was force-fed to him. "That's not true." Was the only thing he could get out of his mouth. "There's no way you're not crazy." He nervously chuckled. "Right? This is one big joke, right?"

The serious looks from everyone else in the room told him otherwise.

"Look, I know this is news to you, but uh, there's a bounty on her head, from the Queen herself." Edgar said. "And the Vanguard, too."

Russell sighed. "Fine, I'll play your game."

"That was…actually easier than I thought it would be." The Titan staring at him commented.

"Crow, shut up." Edgar Malcolm said.

/

To say that Cassandra was furious was a gross understatement. Those Guardians took Russell! They took him away from her!

The Warlock stormed into Winston's laboratory. The gorilla looked at her in surprise.

"Oh! Cassandra, I didn't know you were coming back so soon!" Winston said as he turned to face her. "Sorry, I was just talking to an agent. Where's Russell?"

"That's exactly why I'm here. He was kidnapped in Canada." Cassandra said gravely. Winston looked surprised.

"Canada? What was he doing there? There aren't any ongoing operations in that area." The gorilla turned to his computer terminal and typed in something. A red pop-up appeared on screen with the words '0 MATCHES' in big bold letters.

"That doesn't matter, I need your help identifying the kidnappers. I've managed to take a photo of one of them." Mint appeared and zapped the terminal with a white beam. A photo of the Huntress that wore the _Ancient Apocalypse_ Mask wielding a weapon that looked somewhat similar to _Thorn_ appeared on screen. "That's her. Please tell me you have information, please. Anything will suffice."

Winston took a deep breath, inputted new keywords, the same red pop-up appeared. "Unfortunately, there's nothing that matches our database."

"Hold on…I recognize that cloak." Another voice said behind Winston. The gorilla stepped to the side to reveal a very short man in a red-black mechanical suit, with very well defined blonde facial hair. "And that gun…"

"Do you know her?" Cassandra snapped.

"Yes, no need to be so rude!" The man angrily replied. "She was accompanying a Bastion robot with her two friends, in Sweden. Check with Freya Lun, they checked into her inn a few days ago."

"Thank you."

Cassandra quickly ran out of sight, and made her way to the top of the base, on the cliffside.

She shut her eyes and Taken energy coursed through her and she mumbled a spell that would open a portal to the Ascendant Realm.

The portal opened, and she stepped inside, into her giant throne room. Littered about the massive area were what she called her 'Devoted'. One of them was that small Asian woman, Hana Song. Another was the massive Taken Servitor. A third was that Doomfist character, most of him, at least. He wasn't quite devoted yet, but she could feel his will weakening by the hour, and it wouldn't be long until he would be kneeling before her. The rest were just Primeval Taken beings; Knights, Minotaurs and Captains, the like.

Cassandra felt powerful in this realm. She had control over all these powerful warriors, and many more under them. She had a massive army under her command, and they listened to everything she said, without any exceptions. It felt amazing, having such power, but only one thing was missing, her king. Russell Dulk, the one that would stand by her side and be her faithful lover, the one where she would take with her once she retreated to a peaceful, quiet life, he was all she needed to make her whole. She had to be patient, though. Great things take time, and having him with her was more than great.

She sighed longingly. Her Devoted kneeled before her in an organized manner in front of the throne, all looking downwards. Doomfist and the Servitor were the only one not to do so, the former because he still had some free will, the latter because it didn't have the capacity to kneel in the first place. Cassandra looked at Doomfist unimpressed.

" **Tell us your orders, our Queen…** " The Servitor said. " **We are here to obey every word you say…** "

" **Hana Song and a Captain will come with me. We will be looking for a man.** " The Taken Hana Song stood up and nodded, before disappearing and reappearing with her mech. Its form wasn't any different than the one she had when she wasn't Taken, but was nearly jet black and looked like a moving, shooting black hole. " **Be quick, I will be leaving soon. The rest of you, take more for me, and I will reward you all greatly.** "

Cassandra waved her hand forward. " **Now go.** " The Devoted all uttered something before warping away, leaving her, Hana Song plus a Primeval Fallen Captain alone.

/

Russell was untied and started socializing with everyone inside the room. He was currently striking up a conversation with the aptly name Titan Crow, who introduced him to Bastion, who beeped innocently and played with its bird.

"So…you're telling me that this guy prefers to play with nature, instead of mowing down humans?" Russell asked as he dragged his fingers along the moss-covered Bastion unit.

"Yep. Friendly guy, his bird is-" Crow was interrupted by the door to their room slamming open. A blue woman in purple latex stood at the doorway.

"We have intruders. Taken." The woman spoke with a sophisticated French accent. "I think she's found us."

The entire room vacated and went to the hallways, then to a balcony area that overlooked the entire lobby. Taken were indeed swarming the building, particularly a massive Taken Captain. The blue woman started shooting it with her assault rifle and sniper-rifle combo weapon.

"First of all…" Russell started.

"Widowmaker." The woman promptly replied.

"Widowmaker, you're gonna need a bigger gun than that." The Whisper of the Worm materialized in Russell's hands. He offered the massive weapon to Widowmaker.

"That thing's massive!" She replied incredulously.

"It doesn't have much kick to it, just try it." Widowmaker reluctantly shouldered her weapon and grabbed the Whisper of the Worm. She looked through the scope and aimed towards the Primeval Captain, who was busy wrecking tables and screeching its black heart out.

A thump sounded and the Captain staggered.

"I like it."

"Yeah, hope you're a good shot, if you shoot its head three times in a row you'll get your ammo back."

"That makes it even better." The woman had a sly smile on her face. "Thank you."

"No problem." Russell did a small salute.

" **He's here!** " A squeaky, demented voice said from above. The roof caved in as a Taken MEKA mech burst through.

"That's probably my cue to leave." Russell said as Xiao shot the mech from behind him.

"Get out of here!" Xiao said.

Russell turned and ran the other way.

* * *

 **Gonna be the last time Russell gets knocked out. Promise. This is the beginning of the final arc, where you can probably guess what happens next.**

 **Edit: Fixed.**


	10. Cassandra

_Niobe Labs, European Dead Zone, years ago._

"Huh…wonder what this place is for?" Cassandra wondered, as she walked down the flight of stairs that led the pair into what looked like a server room. She hopped down the blown in wall and pressed her hand against the glass that protected the servers that were diagonal to a giant wall with an unknown upside-down U logo in the middle.

"Dunno. Hidden, full of high-tech stuff. Seems like a Golden Age cache." Russell Dulk said as he touched the wall with the emblem. The ground shook as the wall split into two, revealing a run-down and grown in part of the facility. There was no roof, the walls of another part of the building was blown out, showing the insides. There was a raised area to the back, near the left that seemed to have been destroyed at the edges.

A floating contraption stood at the center of the area, idly standing by.

"Huh, pretty cool." Russell said as he hopped down from their elevated area, dust kicking up as he landed in a spot of filled with half-destroyed concrete. "Let's go check it out."

Cassandra sighed in exasperation and put on a small smile as she followed the Hunter, always eager to dive into the unknown, was he?.

This complex was quite hard to find, it took a pretty long trek from the outskirts of the EDZ to get here, and she wasn't even sure anyone else knew that this entire area existed, let alone know how to reach it.

Russell was busy exploring the small area, going around from spot to spot as if he were a child at an amusement park.

Cassandra's smile grew as she watched her Hunter explore, so full of that child-like wonder, so innocent. However she knew, that underneath that childishness, was a hardened war veteran, one not willing to step down against the fight for good, one that would never take a break as long as the Scorn and the Taken existed, and one that had lost things dear to him.

Russell did say he was still very pissed about what happened to Cayde-6, and with all this Dreaming City stuff happening, she was worried that he wouldn't come back, or at least return the same. Hell, he's changed enough when he returned from the Prison of Elders, without his mentor.

Cassandra sighed as she continued to follow Russell.

What a wonderful, wonderful man, she thought. A sly smirk made its way to her mouth as she blinked up to a ledge, gracefully landing at the raised part of the room. Russell was busy opening various crates and pillaging the contents, talking to himself as he gushed all over the weaponry that was stored in this place.

The Warlock simply put a hand on his shoulder as he held a black with red accents Pulse rifle.

"This could be our…spot. Our secret spot." Cassandra said. "One where we can enjoy each other, one where we can…" She stopped herself as she thought of something.

"Make out, do the deed-" Russell was interrupted by a light jab at his shoulder. "Hey, come on, I know you're posh and all, but can't you just say it like it is?"

Cassandra giggled as her hands wrapped around her Hunter. Her head rested against his shoulder as they fumbled around together. Her mouth sucked on his earlobe as he let out a quiet gasp.

"So, you're completely serious?" Russell said as he dropped the rifle in his hands. "Right here, right now?"

"When am I ever not?" Cassandra replied as she pinned him down. Her eyes locked with his for a brief moment, then they went to scan his face.

"You know…everything about you is so…" She couldn't think of any words to describe. Nothing came to her mind. "So…"

Russell took the initiative and flipped her over, making him on top.

"Maybe I should start." He said. "You're the bestest best friend I ever had." There was a particularly cheesy taste in her mouth.

Cassandra smiled as her cheeks reddened. "I guess I could say the same thing for you."

Russell chuckled.

Their lips met, and love was shared.

Life was perfect for the couple. It seemed that nothing could bring them down from this emotional high.

/

Cassandra longingly sighed as she remembered the good times.

Not quite 'remember', as they technically weren't her own, as her Ghost had to replant them inside her mind, but they still struck a chord in her heart. A chord that made her heart beat harder, and her stomach grow butterflies.

She smirked as she opened a portal to the inn that short dwarf man described. It looked vintage, and very…middle age, like the architects of the building were trying to emulate an old-town look, a town nearly hundreds, if not a thousand years old. It looked comfy, attractive.

This would definitely be a good place on their list when Russell was…hers.

Yes, hers.

Cassandra looked towards her Primeval Captain, and then to the Taken Hana Song. She nodded and the two disappeared in a flash and screams erupted inside the inn.

Now all she had to do was wait. Her two minions would bring Russell out to her, she would wipe his memory, and everything would be fine and dandy.

The Warlock waited patiently as her subordinates did the work. The sound of gunfire made its way to her ears, it was of Russell's Ace of Spades, and that other gun, the one that woman shot her with.

Cassandra grimaced as she realized her short-sightedness. Of course, they would be with him, she should've predicted that. She shook her head as she stepped towards the inn, her feet clacking against the pavement.

A burst of energy blew the doors down as she stepped into the pandemonium that her subjects started.

" **He's here!** " Hana Song said through their mental link as she looked upwards, seeing the Taken mech crashing through the ceiling and pinning a man down. " **I have him!** "

That horrible hand cannon barked again, Cassandra grit her teeth as her fist balled up. That weapon was the equivalent to a Hive Wizard screaming into her ear, she hated it. She flung a table to the side as her Breakneck materialized in her hands.

She shot a few bullets upwards, towards the sniper currently holding the _Whisper of the Worm_ , the gun that she gave Russell.

They stole it from him.

She growled as a heavy round met her shoulder. The sniper up-top was smirking behind the scope as two more rounds staggered her twice. Cassandra put down a healing rift and returned fire. The sniper quickly changed position, grappling up to the roof of the building, through the hole that was created by Hana.

The sniper readied herself again. Cassandra was quicker though, as she shot a few rounds before they could reply. The Warlock ducked into cover and then hopped over a bar, knocking down several glasses in the way. She ducked underneath her newfound protection and then saw a woman cowering under the bar table.

" **You must be Freya Lun…** " Cassandra said as a wicked smile crept up her face.

"No, please, I don't have anything to do with this, please!" The woman begged as she was grabbed by the throat and then turned around, her back pressed against Cassandra. The Warlock held her tight as her auto rifle dematerialized in favor for a sidearm. She made it apparent to her enemies that she had a hostage with her.

" **Bring Russell to me and she lives.** " Was her ultimatum. " **Don't worry, it'll be a swift death.** " She whispered into Freya's ear.

"Let her go!" A Titan jumped down a balcony and landed with a pound, sending furniture flying all over. The man sounded enraged as his fists were brimming with Arc energy. The Titan rushed her, bursting right through the bar stand.

Cassandra recognized the voice. " **Crow…as much of a brute as your mentor, I see?"** She taunted as she side-stepped a shoulder-charge from the hulking Titan. She threw the woman aside as she ducked a punch from the pissed off Titan that had Fists of Havoc activated. She was ready to return with a super ability of her own as she put down another healing rift and fired a few rounds.

Arc energy flowed through her as she channeled it towards her right hand, and then pushed it out in a massive white beam that engulfed the Titan.

She felt the clang of a blade to her right as arcs of fire was thrown at her. _Dawnblade_ , there was a fellow Warlock here too. Cassandra quickly turned direction and pointed her Chaos Reach towards the sword-bearer. There was a scream, and all was quiet for a moment as she slowly floated downwards.

That quiet did not last as bullets from that dreaded hand cannon met her body. Cassandra lobbed a ball of Arc and Taken energy towards the source of the gunfire and then flipped over a table, using it as makeshift cover.

Her Primeval Captain was nowhere to be seen, most likely dead.

The excursion was a failure, Russell was most likely being transported somewhere else.

Cassandra snarled as she opened a portal behind her, and fell inside. It would take her back to her Ascendant Realm.

Hana Song followed, she kneeled before the throne.

" **I'm sorry I failed you.** " Her Devoted said shamefully. " **There were too many of them and-** "

" **Silence,** **I have no time for excuses. Leave me for now, I will decide our next actions.** " Hana Song nodded and then disappeared in a flash of light.

Cassandra screamed into the void as she took out her anger on the floor.

She was going to find him, and if she had to burn down this world, so be it.

/

Cassandra stepped down into Watchpoint Gibraltar. She couldn't do this alone, at least subtly. People would catch on, and she would rather not have to deal with the organizations that would eventually come for her.

Sure, her army could most likely take them on, but it would only compound on her already large enough problems, that being the wicked gang that kidnapped Russell.

Especially that wretch that wore the Ancient Apocalypse gear. She could burn in the deepest pits of Hell, oh what things Cassandra would do to her.

 _Be patient, Cassandra. Her time will come._ A smile crept up on her face at the thought. She must be patient, though, that woman will fall one day.

A request for a video feed appeared on the top right corner of her HUD, coming from Winston. She accepted the request. The gorilla's face appeared in the corner, followed by soundwaves that indicated voice activity.

" _Have you managed to locate Russell yet?_ " Winston asked.

Cassandra sighed in frustration. "Technically, yes. The lead that dwarf gave me was useful, but he got away."

" _My name is Torbjörn!_ " The angry dwarf said from afar.

" _Come meet me at my laboratory. An agent volunteered to help you in your search._ " Cassandra's eyebrow raised at the statement.

Now who could that be?

The Warlock made her way to Winston's laboratory, smiling at the camera in front of the slide-up door whilst waving. She kept a soft smile on her face as she cooled herself down, taking deep breaths as her mind relaxed a bit.

Cassandra stepped inside the laboratory, and the acrid smell of tobacco made its way into her nose. She lightly coughed as she inhaled the scent. It was a particularly bitter smell, one that differed from regular cigarettes and even cigars.

She only knew one person who smoked such cigars.

"McCree." Cassandra said, earning a tip of the hat from the cowboy. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you too, darlin'." McCree took the cigar out of his mouth, keeping it in between his index and middle finger. "You're lookin' great as ever."

"Thank you." Cassandra awkwardly smiled as her eyes tracked the tobacco stick. "What brings you here?" She managed to say, coughing a bit afterwards as the smell really did not mesh well with her.

"Normally I'd be out, fightin' Talon and those whatcha call it…you know, the ones that teleport in and…" McCree paused as he thought of the word to call the Taken.

"The Taken?" Cassandra suggested.

"Yeah! That." McCree paused. "I don't belong here, unfortunately." Winston grimaced at the statement. "Now, when I caught wind that your guy got kidnapped…that got my attention."

"How do you know that?" Cassandra asked. "It's only been a day."

"Winston's a bit of a blabber mouth. Mentioned it offhand and well, now I'm here." McCree grinned towards Winston, who rolled his eyes. "Would you believe it though, Russell Dulk, kidnapped?"

"Normally, I wouldn't but the group that took him are…good, and that is an understatement." Cassandra paused. "One of them has an even quicker draw than him."

The cowboy looked surprise. "No kidding?"

"Yep, and another one can cast electricity from his hands, and another can do fire magic." The Warlock chuckled at the last one. "I can do magic, too, just not the type he does."

"Huh," McCree shrugged his shoulders. "World's gettin' weirder by the minute."

Cassandra sighed. "I'm going to rest, I will be heading out tomorrow, if you want to come along."

/

 _Lore entry unlocked: Cassandra Messer, Taken Guardian_

 _Entry 2: Relationship_

 _Breathe, Cass, breathe._ Cassandra says to herself as she nervously walks up to the Cayde-6, who was petting his pet chicken, the Colonel. _Look confident, don't be a loser…_

 _You need anything, Cassandra?_ Cayde-6's question catches her by surprise. _You lookin' for advice on how to date Russell? I did hear that you two have a date coming, gossip's all over the Tower._

 _Wha-How do you know that?_ Cassandra asked, as she looks towards the Hunter Vanguard who just put down his chicken, whispering something to it before sending it off.

 _Well, gossip's not all over the Tower, but I'm gonna let you in on a secret._ Cayde-6 beckons the Warlock to come closer. _Now don't tell anyone this but he came to me, that's right, me, for advice on how to ask you out on a date._

Now, I consider myself pretty good with women, just ask Ikora.

A boisterous laugh comes from Amanda Holliday, her workstation nearby. _Come on, Ikora hates your guts!_ The mechanic says.

 _That's not true! Not true at all!_ Cayde-6 retorts, pointing his index towards the Sparrow mechanic. _Anyways, back on topic. You have an idea on where you two are gonna go out?_

 _I was thinking that restaurant in the culinary district of the-_ A wave from the Exo shuts her up.

 _Nope, wrong, completely wrong. Don't do that. It's kind of a Hunter thing to hate fancy stuff, and he's no exception._ Cayde-6 said. _That ramen shop around Ikora, that's more his style._

Cassandra thinks, letting out a quiet hum as decisions race through her mind.

 _Hey, Cayde-_ She is brought out of her thoughts by the one Hunter she wants to go out with. _Cassandra? What are you doing here?_

Cassandra looks nervously to Cayde-6, who only replies with enthusiastic thumbs up and quiet encouragement.

 _Uh, I just needed to…um._ She pauses, then sighs. _Look, do you want to go out somewhere together?_

Oh! Um, yeah! Of course! Russell replies, looking quite flustered. _You have any idea where to go?_

Cassandra shoots a glance towards Cayde-6, who only quietly roots for her.

 _What about an…excursion on…Nessus?_ She quickly looks back to the Exo, who has his head dug into his palm. _No! Uh, explore the City?_

 _Sure, sounds good, you have a date in mind?_

 _Three days from now?_

 _I could do that, Cayde, you mind clearing my schedule for me?_ Russell looks past Cassandra and to Cayde-6.

 _Yeah, sure, definitely, of course, not a problem._ The Hunter Vanguard sighs in exasperation as his student left.

 _You almost fumbled that with the suggestion for Nessus, of all places? Really?_ Cayde-6 says. _Ah, whatever, you did fine, now go get him, tiger…no, tigress!_ He points two finger guns at Cassandra, accompanying it with an exaggerated expression.

She lightly chuckles. _This will be a disaster._ She mutters under her breath, taking steps away from the hangar.

 _No, it won't!_ Cayde-6 calls out from a sizeable distance behind. _You'll be fine!_

 _You see, just knock 'em towards each other and it goes fine!_ Cassandra hears the Exo say to his mechanic friend. _I'm amazing, I know._

/

Cassandra wished for the innocent times back. Back when their love was young and naïve, back when they didn't have a care for anyone around them. She wanted all of it back. She could sense that Russell had changed, he was slightly more cautious around her, before he got kidnapped of course.

It felt like he didn't completely trust her, for some odd reason. Of course, she ignored that feeling every time it came up, but after that many years…it crept up on her. She was scared that he thought something was up. Hopefully that wasn't the case and that she was just being paranoid but it was an intrusive thought that occasionally growled at her.

The Warlock sat herself up, her eyes blurry from just waking. She looked under the curtain that covered the window to her left. It was still night time.

"Mint…what time is it?" She muttered, rubbing her eyes and blinking afterwards. Her vision cleared up a bit, at least enough to notice her Ghost pop into reality with a white flash.

"Just a bit past twelve." Mint replied, floating closer towards Cassandra. "Is something bothering you?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing in particular, just can't sleep."

"There's always a reason a person can't sleep. Are you having nightmares?" Cassandra shook her head again. "Something caught in your mind?"

"Yeah…just memories of a past time." She replied, a tinge of sadness in her voice. "I can't shake the feeling that Russell doesn't trust me as much."

The Ghost blinked a few times before giving a response. "I'm sure he still loves you the same. There will be issues that need to be ironed out but I feel that everything should be fine!" She replied cheerfully.

"I hope you're right." Cassandra faced her palm upwards. Taken energy pulsated out of it. "That's what's bothering me."

"Oh, don't worry about it."

"You sure? It would bother him if he finds out."

" **Then don't let him find out.** " The Ghost's voice changed. She ignored the sudden difference. " **You have a deal to fulfill.** "

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

" **Three of the six Guardians responsible for my death are present in this universe. Get revenge for me, will you?** "

"Can that wait?" Cassandra flopped back onto her bed and closed her eyes. "I'll do it in the morning…" She muttered. The Ghost disappeared soon after.

* * *

 **Short little chapter. Leave a review on any potential conflicts with the Destiny lore, your thoughts, and any issues you notice. I already mangled the timeline a bit already so I do want to minimize the damage.**

 **Edit: Fixed.**


	11. Skirmish

_Watchpoint: Grand Mesa, Colorado, United States. One-week pass._

"Yep…definitely smells like Taken here." Xiao unholstered her hand cannon and held it upwards next to her head. The Huntress stepped carefully, as to avoid the black portals littered all over the hallway. She liked to call those 'bad puddles'. "Has that…ozone."

"Taken smell like ozone?" Russell's brow raised at the statement.

"What I've been told. I don't really care to check if it's real or not."

" _ **That's true by the way.**_ " Jingles piped in. His Ghost definitely changed attitude once he was away from Cassandra. " _ **They also come with the scent of never-ending despair.**_ "

" _ **Thought so.**_ " Russell rolled his eyes as he stepped over a fallen rotted body. It's been a while since he's been to this place. Last time he checked, it wasn't like this; though that was a while ago.

The main difference was that there was a giant Taken Blight hovering over it. Edgar told the two not to shoot it, as it could summon some big bad thing. Russell didn't want to take the risk, considering that apparently Cassandra was a Taken Guardian heart-for-eyes in love with him, and was willing to burn down anything in her path.

It was such a dumb story, he thought. But it was crazy enough to be plausible, cause even the wildest Warlock wouldn't be able to come up with something like that.

Apparently, this place was the origin point of all Taken activity on this Earth.

Russell turned a corner, looking in between two server walls that were still functional for some reason. They weren't supposed to be working, let alone transmitting data to somewhere.

" _ **Jingles, tell me what these things are doing.**_ " Russell placed his hand on a dusty window, wiping away the grime and revealing the server running at full speed.

" _ **They're transmitting data…to a device in the area. I've pinpointed the location, whoever turned these on is still here.**_ " A white diamond appeared on Russell's HUD, indicating where to go.

"There's a guy using the servers to download something. I'm gonna go ask some questions." Russell followed the diamond.

" _Understood, try not to aggravate any Taken. We've got enough on our hands as is._ " Xiao's voice came through the radio link.

Russell went up a flight of stairs, taking him to the emergency exit of the facility. The device that was downloading from the servers should just be on the other side of the door. He decided to kick it down, sending it flying by mistake.

 _A bit too strong,_ he thought. Russell stepped out, checked both sides and then looked to the ground. A tablet was sitting innocently on the grass, beeping as a loading bar took up the majority of the screen. He picked up the device, turning it around and inspecting it.

To his right, a positive whir sounded. He felt the barrel of a weapon press up against his helmet. "Shit, you got me." Russell said mockingly as he raised his hands. "So clever, so smart." He muttered.

"Shut up." The voice to his right said as the weapon was pushed, tilting Russell's head to the left. "What are you doing here?" The man's voice was gruff, hardened.

In fact, it sounded oddly familiar.

Russell turned to face the man, who wore a visor covering his entire face, only part that he could see was white hair and a receding hairline.

"Shit you're old." Russell commented. The assault rifle that was up against his forehead lightly tapped it. "Sorry, that was rude."

"Cut the crap and speak."

"So, uh…you notice that giant, black ball up there?" He nodded his head towards the Taken Blight hovering over the Watchpoint. "Investigating that."

The man lowered his weapon slightly. Russell stepped back one pace.

"I brought some friends, so you might want to-" A deafening roar interrupted him as he turned around, seeing the Taken portals warp in. "Shit, get out of here."

"Those things again…" The man muttered as he raised his assault rifle, ready to fire.

Russell took out the Ace of Spades and began firing blindly into the portals, hoping he'd hit something before it touched the ground.

"Xiao, we got Taken incoming!" Russell screamed into his radio.

" _Roger that! On my way!_ " Xiao replied.

A pack of Taken Vex Goblins, Minotaurs and Hobgoblins appeared, the latter backing up and preferring to laser them from afar while the former advanced, similar to the Vex style of movement but twitching like the Taken.

The Ace of Spades rung out as Russell shot a Taken Goblin dead, spinning to the side as he threw three knives and hit two, killing neither but staggering them backwards. The man behind Russell began firing his Pulse Rifle, which oddly sounded like the one that came from a schematic that was supposed to be destroyed. Three mini-missiles came from the weapon, exploding on contact as a few Goblins were pulled out of the action in a small blue explosion. Russell ducked an attempted bash at his head from an invisible Minotaur and rolled the other way, firing a few shots from his hand cannon into it as it screeched and turned to chase him.

Russell switched the Ace of Spades out for a new weapon in his armory, _Le Monarque_. A compound bow from this place called the Black Armory back on his version of the universe. It had a poison dart at the tip of every arrow, only being activated if it was quickly fired after a full draw. It also rewarded precision as the poison would spread to nearby enemies if any critical damage was dealt.

Although he did wonder what a Monarque was.

Russell pulled back the string and let loose an arrow. The shield of the Minotaur exploded as the void energy of the bow matched its own, and the beast staggered, appearing for a second. A second arrow soon followed, a light-purple haze covered its target, and it fell soon after. Russell jumped in the air and threw three more spinning knives at the Taken, using the air-time to let out one more shot with his bow towards a Taken Hobgoblin that was, prior to being killed, relaxing in the back lines and harassing him from afar.

Russell side-stepped the three white projectiles that emerged after a Taken Hobgoblin was killed and threw down a Swarm grenade. It split into small pellets and chased after the enemies, causing small explosions as the Taken were pushed every direction by the impacts. The Hunter kicked down a Goblin and shot it in the face with the Ace of Spades and turned to face another Minotaur. Sliding in between its legs, the Taken beast staggered as a few rounds were unloaded into its underside.

Russell heard the tell-tale sound of the Taken retreating; that sound being eerie quietness.

All was quiet as the Taken were eliminated. The Blight was still above the Watchpoint, but it reduced in sized.

Footfalls on the grass grabbed Russell's attention as he turned to face Xiao, who had her weapon ready but wouldn't have the chance to use it.

"Am I late?" Xiao asked, the old man in the visor nodded. "Damn." She raised her weapon and pointed it at the man.

"Identify yourself."

"Seventy-Six. I'm friendly." The man curtly replied, shouldering his rifle. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be here."

"Well, here we are." Xiao flatly said as she lowered her weapon. "What are you doing around these parts? Place is off-limits to everyone."

"I could ask the same question to you, but Russell here answered it for me." Russell's head snapped towards Seventy-Six.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, somewhat aggravated and surprised. "Do I know you?"

Seventy-Six sighed. "It's complicated, but short answer, yes. Although you probably won't recognize me. I have to leave." The man turned and started walking the other direction. "It's good seeing you again. Thanks for warning me, all those years ago. Reason I made it out alive."

Russell put a hand on his hip and chuckled. He knew who this guy was now. "I'll see you around, Morrison."

The former Overwatch commander looked behind him before continuing.

"Pow-wow's over? We can get back to our original task?" Xiao asked, a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

Russell gave one last look at the figure of the Jack Morrison disappearing into the woods, before facing Xiao once more. "Yeah, let's get to it."

/

Cassandra sighed and shut her eyes as she thought about everything and nothing at all. She wasn't a great tactician, and god forbid her trying to come up with a plan where hundreds of factors came into play.

McCree puffed his cigar as he brought up a map of the United States. "Unidentified ship signatures were spotted flyin' across the States, going from New York…" The cowboy put his finger on New York City. "To Kansas, and then were spotted landing around Colorado. My best bet is that that's your target." The finger ended on the state of Colorado.

Cassandra slowly nodded as she looked at the map. "Do we know exactly where they landed?"

"That's the hard part, they were mostly cloaked, had to go diggin' around to find these records, they weren't actually seen, analysts just thought somethin' was goin' on." McCree took his cigar out of his mouth, putting it out and tossing it to a nearby trash can. "You ever heard of Watchpoint Grand Mesa?"

"…Yes." Cassandra replied. Technically, she was lying, as she didn't really know what he was talking about, but the name was familiar.

"Your Taken have set up shop around the area, I'm gonna make an educated guess and say that they're there." McCree said as he pulled up an image of Watchpoint Grand Mesa. The entire facility looked Taken, with a giant Taken Blight hovering on top.

"Well then, let's go, shall we?"

. . .

Cassandra took a spare dropship to arrive at their destination. Although it was a bit slower than she liked, it made the journey in reasonable time, considering the technological era she was in. The ship veered right, avoiding the massive Taken Blight that was hovering just on top of the Watchpoint.

Since when did Blights get this big? She never really paid attention to how the Taken grew, even though she was technically their queen.

" _ **I'm detecting multiple Guardian signatures in the base…they're here.**_ " Mint said. Cassandra frowned. " _ **Watch out, there's an energy signature pointed straight at-**_ " The Ghost was interrupted as a red laser took out the tail of the ship.

Cassandra tried her best to control the rapidly descending vehicle, but when it's saying that most of its engines are gone, it's probably a good idea to bail out.

The Warlock kicked the cockpit window, cracking it, then she punched it out. Cassandra stood up and hopped out of her ship, freefalling in the air.

She controlled her landing using the Warlock levitation ability, her feet meeting the ground gracefully. What wasn't so graceful was the crash landing her dropship took, resulting in a deafening explosion somewhere behind her.

No matter, that fireteam would pay, and they would pay dearly. She could get Winston another ship no problem.

" _Hey, uh, you alright? I heard the crash._ " McCree's voice sounded through her comms link.

"I'm fine. I'll be a bit late, you go ahead and scout out the area."

" _Roger that._ " The communication link shut off as Cassandra dusted herself.

She took a deep breath, a white diamond appeared on her HUD, indicating where to go.

Her feet were quick as she made it through the forests of Grand Mesa, Colorado.

/

McCree had been called many names before. Cowboy, criminal, scum, bottom-of-the-barrel-trash, bootlicker, _Clint Eastwood_ , and many more. He had heard it all over his long career as a vigilante.

But 'Golden Age magnum dude' was a new one.

McCree kept his hands raised as the barrel of a massive, polygonal shotgun that seemed to have copper coils held together with zip ties on the sides was pressed to his forehead.

"Now maybe we could settle this in a peaceful way?" The cowboy attempted as he looked towards the hulking, masked figure. It wore a mask that looked like a skull, except one eye was non existent and the other was boring straight into his consciousness. "Put down the gun, so we can talk?"

"Yeah, first thing you can talk about is yourself. Go on, talk." The man shrugged, another man appeared to his side, this one wore robes like Cassandra, but had different colors. "Come on, I don't have time."

The other man whispered to the one holding the scary shotgun. "Oh, Russell knows him? Alright then." The man lowered the weapon. "Sorry about that, we're kind of on the run from someone."

"By any chance is her-" The shotgun was raised again. "…Nevermind."

"No, who's _her_ name?" The man sounded aggravated. "You got five seconds before I throw your ass into the ground and make Rasputin proud." McCree didn't get the reference, but he didn't have time to think about it.

"Cass-"

"I heard enough." The man put a finger to his ear. "She's on us. Let's get outta here-" An explosion came to their side, knocking McCree down and staggering the other back.

Cassandra was floating down, firing a few rounds of her assault rifle towards the two men. Upon staggering back up, they returned with double the bullets.

She was outnumbered two-to-one, and these guys didn't seem to be playing around. McCree took advantage of their distraction and threw a flashbang to the massive one with the one-eyed mask, then unloaded an entire cylinder into the back of his head. Which didn't do much as the man's head only bumped downwards.

McCree felt some sort of omnipotent fear come over him as the man turned his head and that god forsaken mask carved a hole in his soul once more.

"You're god damn lucky this ain't Cruci-ooh!" The man was cast aside by a swift punch from Cassandra, who ducked a kick from the robed man, using the time his leg was in the air to seize it and flip the man over.

"McCree, I want you to leave, _right now._ " Cassandra spoke with a certain ice in her voice that made McCree shiver. She definitely knew how to sound authoritative. "Go, or else you'll be caught in the crossfire."

"But-" The cowboy tried to interrupted, but a raised eyebrow from the woman shut him up.

"Don't worry, I'll be done and dusted with these fools."

"Alright, then." McCree tipped his hat in her direction and then bolted the other way.

Only stopping to see a massive dropship in the air, coming down on them.

The rest of Overwatch was here. "Look's like the cavalry's here." McCree muttered as he took cover behind a crumbling concrete blocker. The dropship's side door opened and a person jumped out, followed by a massive gorilla.

The duo of Overwatch agents quickly approached the base, spearheaded by Tracer, who quickly joined the fight as the opposition had another member join their ranks, this time in the form of a woman who wore clothing in similar look to Russell's but had different armor pieces, looking more like a post-apocalyptic fighter. The woman held a pistol that twisted at the barrel and seemed to have some bad energy coming out of it. It apparently shot trucks as the bigger agents, such as Winston would recoil after a few rounds. Some kind of needles would come out upon impact and detonate after a few shots were landed.

The gorilla roared as it rushed the woman once more, batting her away as he turned his attention to the massive man, both rushing each other head on as the latter charged into the former with an electrified shoulder, knocking the big gorilla back. Winston quickly came back to his feet and placed a shield down, blocking a few rounds from the post-apocalyptic woman.

McCree kept his head ducked as an arc of flame was thrown his direction, nearly burning his hat. That would have been a darned shame. The cowboy peeked over, seeing the robed man lobbing waves of fire from a huge sword towards Tracer who was just a bit too fast for him. The Brit waited out until the sword disappeared and smacked the man in the face with the grip of her pistol before quickly backing off. The man continued attempting to get a bead on her but never could quite make it. He placed some sort of white swirling puddle underneath himself and continued firing, striking back at Tracer who attempted another smack, sending the small woman flying.

McCree kept himself comfy underneath his concrete blocker, whistling a tune as he waited the fight out, occasionally peeking over himself to check if anything significant happened.

It seemed to him that Overwatch was on the losing side, as they looked like they were backing off, going on the defensive. Cassandra was the only exception as she managed to handle all three of the enemies at the same time, outmaneuvering and outclassing them in every way possible.

Oh well, better luck next time for the rest of them, he thought.

/

"Now what the fuck is going on here!?" Russell screamed as he saw his group, Xiao, Crow and Edgar, go against Tracer, Winston and Cassandra in a massive brawl that could have equated to a massive dust ball in those old Golden Age cartoons. The Hunter blinked as he looked at everyone confused. "Xiao? Mind explaining?"

He pulled out another new weapon in his arsenal, _Jötunn._ A massive, cuboid fusion rifle that charged up and tracked anyone who was unfortunate enough to be close to the flaming ball of death's trajectory. It looked more like a fancy toaster than a weapon, if anything, however, it did pack a _massive_ punch.

Where Xiao got these weapons, he would most likely never know, but it was like the Traveler personally blessed them. It must have blessed her too as she was somehow generous enough to let go of such amazing weaponry. In fact, he was dumped with a bunch of weaponry from the Black Armory that Xiao didn't like, for some odd reason.

"Hey, come on, put the flaming toaster down-" Russell glared at Xiao and charged Jötunn for effect, shutting the woman up. "Okay, okay. I'll explain."

The tension in the air was palpable as the silence seemed to last for an eternity. "Cassandra, she's the one who attacked us-"

"Because you kidnapped Russell!"

"Not kidnap! Save!" Xiao interrupted the Warlock. "I explained this already!"

"She's a liar!"

He should've expected this, really.

Time, he needs time.

Think, think.

A light bulb lit up in his head.

Russell reached up.

A Golden Gun appeared.

Six shots.

"Don't be stupid-" Xiao was down.

" _ **Don't be stupid, Russell!**_ " His Ghost warned.

"Russell, darling-" Another shot. Cassandra was down.

A third, Crow was down. Edgar could deal with the cleanup, Warlocks tended to be the ones to do that.

The last three went into the Taken Blight. A screech came from it as it exploded.

A portal appeared behind him, and he took it.

* * *

 **I think I'm more comfortable with these shorter chapters to slow down the pace of the story a bit.**

 **Also using this as a way to flex my exotics**


	12. Alliance

" _ **What the fuck did you do…**_ " Jingles whispered through the mental link as Russell's feet met the floating ground of someone's Ascendant Realm. " _ **We're in a bad spot right now, I'm seeing massive Taken signatures left and right, we gotta get out of here, pronto.**_ "

A fuzzy ball of Light appeared in front of Russell. The Hunter reached out to it, but it backed away.

" _ **Don't touch me.**_ " A feminine voice spoke through the mental link.

It was Mint, Cassandra's Ghost.

"Mint? What are you doing here? What happened to you?" Russell asked as he leaned to take a closer look at the Ghost in its decomposed state. "What the Hell is all this?"

" _ **Welcome to Cassandra Messer's Wide and Wonderful Ascendant Park. Except it's not wonderful, at all. Not really a park either.**_ " Mint dryly replied as the fuzzy Ghost zipped to another platform. " _ **Follow me, I'll show you out of here.**_ "

"Could we stop for some answers first?" Russell asked as he hopped to the next big rock.

" _ **Maybe. You don't want to see her in here.**_ " Mint zipped away. " _ **You're being played, Russell. You have to end this.**_ "

Russell rolled his eyes as he jumped up, making a bad landing and catching himself with his hands.

" _ **Careful there, can't have you tripping in here.**_ " Mint chuckled to herself, then blinked away. " _ **A few more platforms and we'll be at the Library of Memories.**_ "

"Library of Memories?" Russell pondered out loud as he followed the ball of light. "What kind of memories?"

" _ **Of you, your whole relationship with her, literally everything I restored in her after I revived her a second time, which by the way, I wholeheartedly regret. Guess I had it coming for thinking she would be different.**_ " The next platform held a shattered building that seemed to be made of marble. Pieces of the structure were floating and no doubt it would've crumbled in the normal world. " _ **I wanted a data center, but I don't make the rules around here.**_ "

The interior of the building was what it was said to be, a massive library, with shelves lined up neatly to the sides, leaving a main path in the center.

" _ **Don't be intimidated, follow me to the giant screen.**_ " Mint reassured as the lost Light made its away to a screen that was at the end of the center pathway. " _ **Pick a memory, any memory.**_ "

"Uh…" Russell thought.

" _ **Oh yeah, you'll be taken into it too, so you get to relive it again. Pick something juicy, if you're feeling pent up.**_ " Mint laughed. " _ **Kidding, pick something you remember dearly, and get ready to play the part, or else you'll mess it up.**_ "

"Mess it up?"

" _ **You'll change how she remembers the event. It'll make a domino effect on every memory afterwards, as she'll start creating events that didn't even happen to justify the alteration.**_ " Mint paused. " _ **Of course, she won't notice it, but if you're looking to distance yourself…watch out.**_ "

Russell shut his eyes and thought. A memory that he could distinctly remember…

" _ **You're taking too long. I'll put you into something you'll definitely appreciate.**_ "

"Wait-"

A flash of white.

. . .

 _The Tower, Earth._

Russell woke with a gasp. He blinked rapidly in an attempt to reorient himself. The surface he was lying on was comfy, like a mattress.

It was a mattress, he was on a bed, a damn nice one at that.

Where was he?

He slightly raised his head and looked around. This looked like a room in one of the Tower's many apartments.

His bodily movement constricted by someone who had her arms tightly wrapped around him, and lightly stirred at Russell's movement.

Right, Cassandra.

He blinked as he looked down towards her. It felt comfortable, being the little spoon. His head rested back onto the pillow.

"…Russell?" Cassandra lowly muttered as she woke. "You okay?"

Russell paused. "Yeah."

"Thank the Traveler, I thought I almost lost you there." She muttered as her head was pressed against the back of his. "You saved my life, tanking that Walker shot."

Russell chuckled grimly, as he soon realized that he had no idea what she was talking about. "I didn't die?"

"You could've, but I managed to rescue you in time, we retreated and let another fireteam do the work." Cassandra said as her hand rubbed against his shoulder. "I didn't want to deal with having to revive you."

Russell laughed. "Where did this happen again? Everything's a mess in my mind right now."

"A patrol on Titan, Fallen were restocking their armory and called in Walkers." Right, that happened.

"Right…so, where are we, right now?" Russell asked.

"You're in my room."

"Oh."

Russell turned to face Cassandra, and rested his head on her chest. She giggled.

"Really, already?" She asked.

"Just want to appreciate the moment…" He mumbled, as he felt himself going back to his slumber.

"Before you go back to sleep…" Cassandra pulled him up so his face was facing hers. "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything, for you." Russell confidently replied.

Her hand locked with his. "No matter, the situation, no matter how rough it gets…"

"Will you always be by my side, and in return I would do the same?"

Russell chuckled. "Of course, Cass. I can't think of a future otherwise."

"Thank you."

A flash of white.

/

"What?" Russell said as he was pulled back into reality.

" _ **A bit more genuine than I expected, but now she appreciates that memory a lot more.**_ " Mint paused. " _ **That was called 'The Promise'.**_ "

"Yeah…fitting name." Russell muttered in return. He forgot what he wanted to relive.

" _ **I'll put you into something a bit more intense.**_ "

"Hold on a second-"

A flash of white.

. . .

 _Legion's Folly, Nessus._

Russell's breath was stolen from him as his feet met metal floor. He blinked a few times as his vision had a crimson aura at the edges. He held a janky green and white Pulse Rifle in his hands, it was called _Go Figure_.

"This is how the Taken feel! Revel this." The Drifter's voice sounded in his ear. On his HUD were four numbers: 4, 6, 13, and 11.

They were all headed to the center of the map.

Russell raised his hand and a Golden Gun appeared. A quick bullet put down the Guardian with the number four hovering over his head, it was a Titan.

"One down!" The Drifter said. The other three turned their attention to Russell, the ones with double digits hovering over their head fell back and hid.

Another shot from Golden Gun put down the Hunter with the number eleven hovering over her head. "Two down!"

Russell pushed forward, gunning straight for the one with thirteen. Taken Phalanxes were dropped into the map, being aggressive to the other fireteam and not him. The Hunter dodged a snipe from the one with thirteen and quickly closed the distance.

Their eyes met through their masks.

" _ **That's Cassandra.**_ " Mint whispered.

Russell blinked twice and then put her down with a single shot of Golden Gun.

"One more in the grave!" Drifter called out.

Russell rolled to the side and threw a grenade at the last one alive, rushing in for a punch. He killed the Guardian, then was teleported back to another copy of the area.

"Hahahaha! Were they saying something!? CAUSE THEY'RE DEAD NOW!" Drifter yelled excitedly.

There were various compliments coming from his team. He didn't even know their names. "Enemies inbound at Steppes!"

A red diamond appeared on his HUD, to his right. He headed there and cleared out the Cabal that were very angry, as they usually were. He gathered a few Motes and then headed down to the center to bank them.

A Taken Knight was dropped down, closing the bank. Russell went on to deal with that one but stopped as an alarm sounded.

"Invader inbound! Kill them before they kill you!"

"She's at the Dri-" The fireteam member was cut off as he was killed by a sniper rifle shot.

 _Damn, that was a good shot._ Russell remarked as he hid behind a big tree next to Steppes, occasionally peeking out to check if the invader was getting close. He noticed that the crimson red robed woman was a Warlock and seemed to correlate with the one that Mint said was Cassandra.

This was all so long ago, he barely even recognized her armor.

Russell dodged to the left, circling around the tree and headed towards the Base, making sure to keep an eye behind him.

"Oh no you don't!" Cassandra said from behind. He quickly turned around and let off a burst at her, taking down her supplementary over shield. Then the Warlock levitated in the air and reached out her palm in his direction. The Hunter wasn't fast enough to react as a big white laser came out of her hand and he was completely obliterated.

Cassandra walked up to his Ghost and crossed her arms. "Serves you right." She let out a 'hmph' as she was teleported away.

"Damn, you two have a very special relationship." A Guardian commented as Russell spawned back in.

"Yeah, she's a fiery one."

"Hope you can handle it."

/

" _ **That was her first Gambit match, and you promised to go easy on her.**_ " Mint said. " _ **You're an absolute dick head.**_ "

"Hey, it's not my fault that I'm being thrown into her memories like this!" Russell argued back. A deafening low, guttural, moan came from above.

Russell cautiously looked up to see a massive Servitor flying above the Archive. "Holy shit…" He muttered.

" _ **That's one of Cassandra's Devoted. Pull out your Ghost, now.**_ " The fuzzy ghost's voice sounded much more serious now. " _ **Now, or else he'll see you.**_ "

" _ **Russell come on…**_ " Jingles muttered as he was pulled out. "You serious, dude? Just gonna believe the-oh what the Hell is happening to me!?" The Ghost started spinning and Light was coming out of it.

Russell squinted as he looked at his Ghost. The spinning eventually stopped and the fuzzy ball of Light that was Mint disappeared. "What did you do to Jingles?" The shell had more Taken accents to it, with a black flame following it as it hovered around.

" _ **Don't worry, I'm just borrowing his shell. Once Cassandra's actually dead you'll see him again.**_ " Russell opened his mouth to speak. " _ **Don't talk. Follow me.**_ "

Mint flew to the entrance of the Archive. Russell reluctantly followed it as reality seemed to morph in itself. The platforms that were his path to this building were now in different spots.

" _ **Now I've disguised you as a Primeval Taken, a unique specimen, the Servitor is gonna notice you and you'll be thrown into what's called the Devoted Trials.**_ "

Russell looked at his hands, and sure enough, it looked like he was Taken. "I'm probably going to regret this…" He mumbled to himself.

" _ **Don't worry, you can come back to this spot whenever you want.**_ " Mint said, as if that sounded reassuring.

The Primeval Servitor floated above, then its massive single eye turned to Russell. The tentacles that were oozing out the back of it extended to the sides.

"… **Prove yourself worthy.** " The Servitor said as Russell was teleported to another area in the Ascendant Realm. " **The Queen will only accept the strongest.** "

" _ **Good luck, as of right now you're a Fallen Kell with a couple odd quirks. Such as the preference to use Guardian weaponry. Oh right, you'll get some neat little abilities too.**_ " Russell looked at his right hand and balled it into a fist.

A Taken Knight spawned in front of it. " _ **Try flinging your wrist at him. Circular motion.**_ " Russell did as suggested and a translucent black ball came out of his appendage, followed by a horrible screech. The ball disoriented the Knight, making it stumble around as if it were drunk. Russell finished it with a few bursts from the Blast Furnace.

The Hunter blinked as he looked at himself. "What the fuck…"

" **Very good. The Trial continues.** " The omnipotent voice of the hovering Taken Servitor said. A few more Taken beasts spawned, varying in size and danger factor. A few Thrall, Phalanxes, a Minotaur and some Captains.

Another fist fling and the group of Thrall running at him were thrown back and dazed, then promptly mowed down by a few bursts of Russell's Pulse Rifle. He then side stepped a bash from a Taken Phalanx, flipping its shield over and grabbing its head, then swiftly tossing it to a wall. The other attempted the same thing but was quickly evaded, its legs being shot down as the shield charged up, staggering the being before it was crushed.

The Minotaur rushed Russell with no semblance of intelligence, screeching as it raised its arm to slam down. The Hunter felt an unnatural amount of strength in himself and caught hold of the beast, tearing off its arm soon after. He switched out for a shotgun called _Threat Level_ and ended the fight with one slug.

The Captains soon came after, attacking in a pack as they coordinated their blight attacks, successfully turning Russell's vision dark as they all rushed him at once.

Russell, not taking this lightly, stomped on the floor and sent them all flying. A few shots from his shotgun put the Captains down.

" _ **You're catching on, great.**_ " Mint commented.

"Come on, that's it!?" Russell screamed at the Servitor. He felt bloodthirsty, his vision was tinted red and Traveler be damned that was he enjoying this. "Bring it on!"

" **Eager to serve the Queen, are we?** " The Servitor took on the voice of Variks, the Loyal.

Odd thing to change voice all of a sudden, but it did fit with what was currently happening.

" **You have proven yourself worthy in combat.** " Russell was teleported to another area, this one looking more like a platforming sections. " **But are you agile?** "

Russell cracked his neck as he leapt from a broken piece of ground to one that was elevated enough for him to use his arms to climb up. A Taken Phalanx was waiting for him, ready to push him off the edge. He kicked its legs before it could, and sent it off the edge

Russell watched as several more platforms materialized. He took a deep breath and jumped for the next.

/

Edgar Malcolm was not having a good day. First, he's put onto guard duty in some base in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and now he has to explain to a bunch of people unrelated to the mission that he and his friends cannot die. The Warlock raised his hands as he slowly approached Xiao's floating Ghost, making sure to keep his palms visible so he didn't have to get violent.

Traveler knows how quickly he could put down the three agents that were currently pointing weapons at him, not limited to a giant electric shocker cannon.

"Whaddya think you're doin' there?" The lanky female one asked as her eyes narrowed underneath her orange goggles. She wore a bomber jacket over some kind of device on her chest, and had hair that seemed to go everywhere at once. "Not lookin' to do any funny business are we?"

"No, just give me a second." Edgar replied, almost bored. By the Gods he was hoping Xiao would give him the order to put these fools down. Most likely not, as she was more of a negotiator than a warrior.

That said a lot about her, considering she could put down a fireteam of Guardians in a few seconds without breaking a sweat.

"I'm just gonna touch this floaty thing and…" Edgar slowly reached out his palm at Xiao's Ghost. "Do that…"

A revolver shot echoed as a bullet pierced his hand. The Warlock grit his teeth as he sustained the burn and continued reviving Xiao.

It took a few seconds for the Huntress to come back to reality. An overshield was granted for the both of them and all was good in the world.

Not really though, becausee Xiao was fuming.

"How?" The thin woman asked. "She was for sure dead!"

"Not now, thin bitch." Xiao snapped back, earning an offended look from the woman. "Cause of you guys, we lost _both_ of them."

"Because of us!? We didn't do anything!" The woman argued. "Name's Tracer by the way." She added in.

"Well, alright Tracer, if you folks hadn't burst in like it was a god damn Cabal invasion, maybe we would still had Russell with us!" Xiao's hands balled up. "And don't even get me started on you, cowboy!" Her attention was turned to the cowboy wearing a red poncho, who immediately looked the other way, as if he wasn't even acknowledging her existence.

"Yeah, you best say nothing." She spat.

"What is this whole deal with Cassandra?" The gorilla spoke next, and spoke softly. "Do you two have history?"

Edgar went on to revive Crow.

"No, but we've been sent to eliminate her." Xiao said, through gritted teeth.

"By who? Talon?" The gorilla prodded, looking inquisitively at them as it put away its massive electric weapon.

"No." Xiao curtly responded.

From the edge of Edgar's vision, he saw Cassandra's Ghost warp away, as if it was Taken.

The tension could be cut with a butter knife. Xiao stood rather aggressively towards the gorilla whilst the animal's friends did the same, except focused on the Huntress.

She sighed as she stashed her hand cannon, turning around. "We'll get her next time, we're packing up."

"Not so fast." The gorilla said. Xiao turned back around, annoyed. "You have questions to answer."

"Well ask them quickly, because we have a hunt to get on with."

"How exactly are you…alive?" Ah yes, the dreaded question, Xiao glanced towards Edgar, meaning he would have to explain this. "You were quite literally disintegrated."

"Edgar." Xiao said, the Warlock sighed.

"So…to put it bluntly, we're immortal." Edgar shortly said. "As long as there's another Guardian nearby, we can be revived and continue fighting as if nothing happened."

"Guardian?" The cowboy butted in, then chuckled. "Guardian of what?"

"Earth, humanity, all that stuff." Edgar waved him off. "Point is, if you want to kill us, go ahead and try, and unless you get all _three_ of us, good luck by the way, we're gonna keep coming back."

"Understood?" Xiao said, not waiting for an answer. "Good, we're going."

"Wait." Tracer said.

"I swear to fucking God if it's one more useless question I will kill all of you right now." Xiao started reddening in anger, which wasn't a good sign at all. She didn't turn back.

"Come with us." The woman said. Xiao's look of anger was replaced with one of confusion. "We have what Winston would call, a proposition."

Edgar looked towards the gorilla, who looked at Tracer uneasily, then to the cowboy, who was biting his lip and looked ready to draw his revolver from its holster in a split second.

"Better be one that impresses me." Xiao said as she crossed her arms and glared at the petite woman.

"I want you three to join Overwatch and fight with us."

Edgar's brow raised at the proposition.

"Think about it, we have access to the biggest network of satellites in the world and have agents from all over dropping in." The woman's cockney accent was definitely strong and she just oozed of hope.

"Are you forgetting that we're after one of your agents too?" Xiao asked, clearly unimpressed.

Tracer was about to open her mouth once more but the gorilla spoke instead. "We will help you find Cassandra, and maybe we can sort something out?"

Christ these people were naïve, but they did have good resources available to them.

Xiao bit her cheek. "Fine. You guys help us find her, and we'll show you her ugly side."

"She looks pretty good to me…" Tracer muttered. "Oh boy I shouldn't have said that." She said lowly and quickly.

Edgar chuckled, at least something to make him smile today.

/

 _Watchpoint Gibraltar, Earth._

Xiao muttered swears under her breath as she stomped her way to her new room in this base that was on an island in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere.

Well, not really, as they weren't really far from a major country but still, it was far enough to classify as bum-fuck nowhere in her books.

Xiao muttered some more as she walked into her room, the door sliding open for her.

It was quite spacious for a room in a military base, in fact it was luxurious for one. There were two floors, a dedicated kitchen, an empty enough space in the middle to do whatever.

Plus, it even included a green cyborg ninja meditating in that empty space!

"Wait a second." Xiao said. The ninja turned to face her. "Genji." Her expression softened a bit.

"Oh! Apologies…there was no one to greet me when I arrived and I just took a room at random." Genji said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I will leave now, I assume you're tired."

"You can stay a while, saw that you were pretty into that whole meditation thing. Go ahead, finish up." Xiao said as her armor disappeared from her body, leaving her in a skin tight bodysuit.

"Um, I am still here, if you're not aware." Genji said, rather uncomfortably.

Right, he still exists, she was getting forgetful.

"Whoops." Xiao chuckled as some armor came back to her, and she stepped to the second floor.

She headed into the shower and pulled out her Ghost, letting it roam free.

. . .

"Genji's gone by the way. Had a nice conversation with him." Mac said as the plain-looking Ghost floated next to Xiao, who had a towel over her shoulder and wearing tattered sleepwear. The colors were faded and there were some holes in them, but at least it was comfy enough to sleep in.

She looked at the bed and stretched.

"I'll fit here quite nicely…" Xiao muttered. It had been a while since she was able to live in a room that was comfortable let alone as high-end as this. She wondered how Crow and Edgar were faring.

Speaking of which, she heard some maniacal cackling and a terrified sounding beep coming from the hallways. It was probably Crow up to his shenanigans with Bastion again.

"Window." Mac said as it nodded towards the decently size window that sported a nice view of the ocean. Sombra was there waiting at it, tapping her fingers on the glass whilst looking to the right.

Xiao walked up to the window and tapped on the glass, then pushed it outwards as Sombra stepped away. The Huntress peeked out the newly created opening.

"Moved as fast as I could when I heard you guys went with Overwatch." Sombra said, huffing afterwards. "Did they blackmail you?"

Xiao looked at the hacker confused. "No."

"Then why are you in their base?"

"They're helping us track down Cassandra." Sombra rolled her eyes at the answer.

"Oh come on, you and I both know that _I_ would be a much greater help than they could ever be." She scoffed afterwards. "Whatever, I'll see you guys on the road, I guess?"

"Stick around, we're going out hunting tomorrow."

"Great, see you around." Sombra did a small wave with two fingers and then disappeared.

Xiao sighed as she closed the window.

" _ **Incoming transmission request from Zavala.**_ " The Huntress groaned as she accepted the request.

" _Guardian, report._ " The Titan's Vanguard familiar voice sounded through the radio link. " _Petra has updated me on the situation at the Dreaming City. The city is plagued by an ongoing, looping curse._ "

"Shit, sounds bad. Everything alright over there?" Xiao said as she sat down on a comfy couch. "How long have we been gone?"

"You have only been gone for a single day."

"Whoa, it's been a few weeks on our end."

"Interesting." Ikora's voice was pleasant to hear. "It appears that time passes differently in their Earth."

"How long has Russell been gone? He says it's been around nine years since he was there."

"…It's been only one year since he disappeared." The Warlock Vanguard's voice was full of intrigue. "Do you require any backup? We have a fireteam ready."

"We're doing good, managed to make contact with our golden boy Russell, and had some skirmishes with Cassandra." Xiao said as she brushed her hair back, sighing afterwards. "That's the good news I guess."

"And the bad news?" Zavala asked.

"We lost contact with him a few hours ago. He jumped into a Taken portal. Second, she's spreading the Taken all over the world. It's a pretty nasty infestation."

"May I have a moment with the Guardian?" Petra Venj's voice sounded distance. "Perfect, Guardian, the Techeuns suggest that Riven's essence inhabits your target, Cassandra Messer, if I recall correctly?"

Xiao's face turned grave. "Riven's still alive?"

"Ahamkara transcend death, friend. Although I have heard there are other Hive beings that are playing a role in this…I believe one of them is called Savathun? But That's beside the point, end this quickly. Good luck." The Huntress took a deep breath.

"Stay strong out there." Xiao said as the connection was closed. "Fuck."

The Huntress sighed as she thought of her next move.

* * *

 **rip Trials**


	13. Truth

Night fell upon Watchpoint Gibraltar. The full moon shone dimly through Xiao Zhen's open window as the Huntress calmly rested herself on her room's couch. All was peaceful, nothing to interrupt her from her peaceful slumber.

Nothing except for a massive Osprey gunship hovering overhead, followed by the sounds of soldiers screaming and rappelling down a rope. Xiao frowned as she attempted to utilize a couch pillow to block out the noise. Couldn't they have chosen a better time than, oh…

"It's like…" She couldn't finish her mumbling as her Ghost materialized before her.

"Three-thirty-seven AM." The Light construct replied.

"Yeah." She muttered as she stacked another pillow on herself. She genuinely did not care for anything else than to get some shut-eye, they could come in, shoot everyone dead and leave as long as they didn't make any noise.

The Huntress groaned as she realized that the Osprey was not going to be departing anytime soon. Xiao sat herself up and rubbed her eyes, yawning as she stretched.

"Let's go find out what this is all-"

"Everyone come out with your hands up! We have this entire base surrounded!" A man's voice said through a booming loudspeaker, reminding her for some reason of the Tower PA system before the Red War.

Xiao groaned as she scratched her back and slowly stood up, making sure to take her sweet time in leaving this nice room, which might as well be called a condominium.

She slumped forward as she walked towards the door like a half-drunk Hive Thrall, the entrance sliding open for her as a flashlight was shone straight into her field of view.

"Watch the light, asshole!" Xiao said as she covered her eyes, scowling. "Could give some warning…"

"Shut up." The man behind the flashlight said.

Other doors in the hallway slid open as various Overwatch agents in different levels of readiness stumbled out.

A man in a suit stood behind the invading force as they all formed a line and let him reveal himself.

"Greetings." The man began as he set down his suit case. "I'm sure you were all having a wonderful night?" He dryly chuckled. "Rhetorical question."

Xiao raised her hands as she realized an assault rifle was being pointed straight in between her eyes. Not that it didn't really matter, as she could just get revived, but she did like making the enemy think they had an advantage.

"Get to the point, jackass." Xiao said as she glared daggers into the smiling businessman.

"I'm going to assume you're the leader of this…resistance?" He replied, his stare unwavering as he never seemed to blink, ever. "Nice to meet you, you can call me Jim." Jim then walked towards Xiao and offered his hand.

"Xiao." The Huntress replied as she carefully shook it.

"Perfect, now you probably already know what we're here for…" Jim's eyebrow raised as he looked at Xiao's face of confusion. "I'm going to think that's a no then."

This guy irritated Xiao in all the worst ways, he was formal, overly pleasant, smelt of fancy cologne and looked like a serial killer. The man's hair was the cleanest she had ever seen, and his suit was impeccable. Everything she hated.

"Is there anything stopping us from wiping you all off this planet?" Xiao asked, visible irritated as some armor materialized on her.

"Well, other than the entire world knowing about it and having virtually every military against you, no." Jim smiled his very punch-worthy smile.

God Xiao hoped she could deck him in the face as hard as she could one day. Her fist was itching for it.

The Huntress glanced to her Fireteam members, who already had their full set of armor on plus weaponry. Crow threw together his Crucible gear, and it looked like he hadn't put it on properly. Edgar seemed to feel extra Awoken today and had on a full set of _Great Hunt_ armor, save for the Lunafaction Boots.

A bit overkill to wipe the floor with these fools, as they could just go at them without needing a single gun, but hey, better to overprepare than be inconvenienced. Because these guys were sure as hell an inconvenience.

Xiao rolled her eyes, to make it seem like she was listening to the man drone on about global politics and the potential consequences of every army in the world hunting Overwatch.

"Look, get to the point already." She said, cracking her neck as she pushed away the assault rifle being pointed at her head. "Safety's on by the way." She whispered to the soldier, who frantically corrected their issue.

"Anyways, we've been noticing increased reports of activity of these…extraterrestrial beings whenever this illegal organization gets involved anywhere. It seems like they're following you all, or at least one of you." Jim said as he clicked open the suit case. "We've managed to secure this, at a great price." Inside was a vial of Taken Blight.

"Perhaps any of you would know of whoever commanding this threat?" A lion's roar. The man turned around as a massive Taken Fallen Captain spawned behind him, another figure spawned beside the Fallen.

" **Perhaps you would like to talk to her in person?** " Cassandra's voice was demented, and twisted, especially terrifying when she had what looked like a Taken Fallen Kell next to her. She was already scary enough on her own.

The soldiers turned to face the two Taken beings. Mister Jim backed away, obviously frightened.

" **Go on…ask a question.** " The Taken Cassandra smiled deviously as she stepped forward, her feet clacking against the ground. She quickly outpaced the business man's backpedaling and reached out for his neck.

" _ **I want a Well, right now.**_ " Xiao nodded to Edgar, who nodded back and pulled out a massive broadsword and stabbed it to the ground, creating what was called a Well of Radiance. The Huntress rolled away into the well's pool of golden light as she felt herself getting revigorated. On top of that Edgar had Lunafactions on, which meant her gun automatically reloaded for her.

Xiao took out Malfeasance and started shooting at the massive Taken Kell, putting a step back as she braced for any kind of vengeance as it was staggered by the exploding slugs that burrowed into it. The retribution came in the form of a deafening screech that seemed to shake the Earth to the core, then it charged into the soldiers, ignoring the three Guardians currently pummeling it with all types of powerful weaponry.

The Kell grabbed a soldier and discarded him or her as if it was a broken toy and curb stomped another, kicking back a group of three as it screeched once more, turning its attention onto its real threats. Its eyes bored into Xiao as two swords materialized into its hands. For some reason, it looked hesitant.

Xiao gave it a nice stare back before pointing her hand cannon in between its eyes and firing her entire magazine. She rolled to the side as it stomped, sending bodies flying into multiple directions. She stepped back into the Well of Radiance that Edgar provided.

Speaking of Super abilities, she felt her own was ready and hopped into the air, pulling a purple bow of Void energy and firing a single arrow to the ground next to the Taken Kell's position. A purple half-sphere formed and a visible tether linked the beast to it.

"I'm going in!" Crow screamed as his feet dug into the ground and he propelled head-first into the massive beast's direction like a god damn missile, leaving a trail of Arc energy behind himself as he detonated on impact with the Taken monster, leaving a pool of electricity that was definitely shocking to the core.

Personal experience.

The Taken Kell screeched as it smashed one of its swords downwards, only being stopped by a green streak that parried the strike. A certain green ninja gave a silent nod to Xiao as he bounced off a wall, sending three shurikens into the Taken beast's head.

 _Where's Cassandra in all of this?_ Xiao thought as she scanned the area for the Taken Guardian. She had noticed the Warlock had taken a higher position, by floating in the air and was looking at her hand, which then moved so its palm was facing the group of Guardians plus Overwatch agents.

"Oh shit get down!" Xiao screamed as she rolled to the side, narrowly evading the massive white beam coming from Cassandra's hand. It was pointed towards everyone else and Crow's shield wasn't going to last long under such intense concentrated energy, and on top of that it looked like the Warlock had Geomag Stabilizers boots, which would make the pain last even longer.

The beam changed direction as it was headed straight towards the mortal Overwatch agents.

The Taken Kell screeched as it grabbed Cassandra and pushed her away, making her point her Chaos Reach to it.

" **What are you doing!?"** The Taken Guardian screamed as the Taken beast was obliterated. She screamed in frustration as it collapsed and fell with a resounding 'thump' that shook the ground. It started fading away. " **What has gotten into you?** " She said as she looked at the slowly decomposing corpse.

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at the Taken Kell, who was slowly disappearing and a cloaked figure underneath was revealing itself, unconscious and unmoving.

Russell.

"That explains some things." Xiao muttered as she opened fire on Cassandra, who snapped her head and twitched at the aggression. The Warlock threw a grenade that covered an area in smoke and lightning, obscuring everyone's view.

Xiao wouldn't let her get away this time, so she braved the storm and burst through, pulling another Void arrow from nothing and shooting it at what she remembered was Cassandra's position before the smoke came over.

There was a connection, as a big red crosshair was visible on her HUD, on top of someone struggling to move away from a tether. The smoke cleared, revealing Cassandra tied to the tether, carrying Russell over her shoulder. She was working quick to open a portal to her Ascendant Realm, successful in doing so then throwing their prized Hunter into it before shutting it closed.

Cassandra turned around to face the people who would give out her demise.

"It's pointless, he's _mine._ " The Warlock said with venom in her voice as she glared at everyone, failing to notice a brown woman in a purple trench coat materialize behind her. "You kill me now, and I'll keep coming-" Hands were wrapped around her head and was twisted to an unnatural angle.

Xiao was surprised it took her down. Cassandra slumped down with her head turned to a near one-hundred degree angle. The corpse quickly faded away.

"Whoo! Take that you psycho, demented _puta_!" Sombra screamed in joy as she saw the body disappear. "Is that it? We won?"

Xiao sighed and darkly chuckled. "Only this fight."

The face of joy from the hacker quickly disappeared. "What?"

"I have a story to tell, and everyone who was late to the party, meet me at the conference room."

/

Russell's eyes fluttered open. His vision quickly came to him as he felt a sense of relaxation come over him, one that was given after a good night's sleep. He looked around and discovered that he was in his ship, still strapped into the pilot's seat. Jingles materialized in front of him.

"Hey, you've been asleep a while." The Ghost spoke in a subdued tone, as if he was holding back his emotions. "Come on, let's get stuff done."

Russell nodded, opting not to speak as he just didn't feel like talking right now. The cockpit window of his ship lifted upwards as he undid his seatbelt, hopping out afterwards.

The hangar of the Tower was normal, workers milled about doing their day-to-day tasks. Amanda Holliday and Cayde were in their usual spots, the former at her workstation while the other was leaning against a ship, occasionally telling to Colonel to stop doing something.

Russell walked to the Hunter Vanguard, who acknowledged him with a nod.

"Hey." Russell said as he stretched his arms. "You're looking good today."

"Thanks." Cayde seemed subdued. "Feels…weird."

"What feels weird?" Russell asked, tilting his head to the side.

"If I'm here, then that must mean they managed to approximate me. Guess they got enough info on Nessus, and something's telling me they won't find more." Cayde paused. "…Yeah, I guess I'm dead, huh?"

Russell decided to leave the Hunter Vanguard alone, thinking that maybe there was a glitch in his Exo mind or something.

The sun shone bright over the Tower courtyard. Benedict 99-40, Tess Everis, Master Rahool and Zavala were in their regular locations.

Russell walked up to Tess, who greeted him with a short nod. "Good to see you, Guardian." He ignored her greeting and decided to look at the catalogue for this week.

A new ship, an ornament for Thunderlord…

The Hunter bit his lip as he inspected the ornament for his prized Heavy Machine Gun that rained lightning from above. He then decided, _fuck_ _it,_ and purchased the package with his remaining silver.

Tess reached under her table and handed him a blue box. "Thank you for shopping at Eververse." She said before returning to her usual state.

Russell grabbed the box and stashed it in his inventory, deciding to open it later on when he would have time. He then decided to make his way to the Annex of the Tower, to check in with Suraya for clan bounties and maybe with Ada-1 if she was in the mood to see him.

The Hunter ran through, hopping down instead of taking the stairs and then snaking his way through civilians to meet the Vanguard's clan manager.

"How's the clan doing?" Suraya asked as she offered out the clan bounties available to him.

"Great, you see anything of interest lately?" Russell asked as he picked out one that seemed suited for him, which was the elimination of enemies of the Light using Solar abilities.

"Nah, I heard Cassandra wanted to speak with you, she should be around, though I don't know where she went to." Hawthorne said as she glanced towards her falcon Louis who was nipping at her poncho. "Hey, stop that!" She whispered to the bird.

"I'll see you around." Russell said as he turned the other way.

"You should go see the Drifter. Heard he still has a spot open for Gambit." Jingles materialized out of nowhere and orbited Russell's head.

"Sure thing, could go for a bit of Guardian versus Guardian action, huh? Summon my inner Dredgen Yor?" Russell chuckled at his joke. Jingles gave a nervous chuckle in response.

Russell slid under the ajar downwards door as he approached the Drifter. The man greeted him with a boisterous smile.

"How you doin' brother?" The man asked, smiling confidently. "You up for some Gambit? Need one more to complete a team, heard Xiao's in it!"

The mention of Xiao seemed to spark anger in him as one of his fists tightened. "Sure." Russell said, barely managing to keep his teeth from gritting together.

"Perfect, you're on the list! Say, have you heard of Quria?" The question caught him off guard.

Who was Quria?"

"No?" Russell said hesitantly. "Who or what is that?"

"It's one of the Taken minds responsible for the Curse, notice how it's all so orderly? You also realize that this is one big-"

A flash of white.

Russell's eyes fluttered open.

/

Xiao told them everything, once they all got comfortable. She recited to the best of her abilities the madman that was Uldren Sov, Russell's journey for vengeance and the opening of the Dreaming City. She also explained that she was Awoken, which was why she was a very light shade of blue. It seemed to have eased off some people who most likely thought that she was of the same string as that Widowmaker fellow.

"Now, in the Dreaming City there was a giant thing trapped in it, its name is Riven, the last known living Ahamkara." A hand was raised, coming from Winston.

"What is an A-ha-mkara?" The gorilla struggled to pronounce the word, which somewhat amused Xiao.

"Good question, you know those genies in a lamp?" An image of Riven from her full fireteam's raid appeared on screen. Some were taken aback, some looked on with interest. "They're the exact same as those, but a lot scarier. They feed on desire, and do love to corrupt wishes. Bring a lawyer." A few eye-rolls.

Xiao cleared her throat. "Anyways, yours truly, Edgar and Crow plus three other people who unfortunately were not able to accompany us ventured in, managed to slay Riven, and secure her heart." She did a short bow towards her two other fireteam members, who reddened at the recognition. "Good thing was, she's dead, bad thing is, Ahamkara transcend death. She was able to give out one Last Wish, in the form of a curse cycle on the Dreaming City and now lives through our friendly Warlock, Cassandra Messer."

"She's extremely dangerous, and the strength given to her by being Taken only compounds that. Don't engage her one-on-one, you'll be Taken and turned into her mindless servant, like what happened to that mech girl and that guy with the giant fist." Xiao huffed and crossed her arms. "Now, do I have all the answers? No. Go see a Techeun for the entire history of the Dreaming City, I've only been sent to kill Cassandra for good, and unfortunately, there's only three of us. Six were needed to kill Riven."

"Now I'm not asking you guys to be part of my fireteam, it's just that…" Xiao bit her lip. "The situation's a bit dire. Every time we kill her, she'll just come back. We'll have to figure out a way to finish her off in her own realm, I'll explain that later." She lightly clasped her hands together.

"And…I guess that's all I have to say. If you guys have any questions about our abilities, or anything from where we come from, ask Edgar." She pointed towards Edgar, who rolled his eyes.

The room dispersed, save for four: A woman with blonde hair, Sombra, Genji, and Winston. The woman in blonde hair immediately went up to interact with Edgar, who seemed way too pleased to be _talking_.

In fact, everyone in the Tower save for his close friends thought he was a mute, when in reality he just doesn't like to speak and hands the job to his Ghost.

Xiao looked to Genji, who stood up and walked to her. "You need anything?"

"No, but if you're looking for a person to assist in your…hunt, I will be flattered to join." The ninja said, walking away afterwards.

Xiao huffed as she put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'll be damned." The side of her lips curled up.

" _ **I think he's into you.**_ " Mac whispered through the mental link, which was flat out redundant.

" _ **Yeah, no shit.**_ " Xiao chuckled as she observed Edgar eagerly talk with the blonde woman about whatever while Crow stood around awkwardly, until Winston came up to him and started discussing about Arc energy. The Titan was all too eager to discuss, and ushered the two others plus the gorilla to demonstrate a few abilities.

A few minutes later a loud swear was heard and there was boisterous laughter afterwards.

Then an explosion outside.

"Crow you god damn idiot."

/

Russell quickly regained his consciousness, as was expected after getting such a good night of sleep. He sat himself up as he took in his surroundings.

Cassandra was humming to herself as she was banging onto something metal.

" _ **DON'T TRUST HER.**_ " A monotone voice that sounded oddly like Jingles said. Russell decided to disregard the warning.

"Hey, Cass!" He said excitedly, why wouldn't he be excited to see the love of his life? Cassandra turned around, looking surprised.

"Oh, you're awake!" She said as she went in for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Russell. "You've been asleep for so long! I had to do the first patrol alone!" She said, putting on her pouty face, quickly being replaced by one of happiness.

" _ **DO NOT LISTEN.**_ " The same voice said in his head. Russell disregarded it again, and returned the hug.

"Come in, any Guardians on this channel? There's a Servitor feeding Ether to its Fallen brethren, if anyone's available to stop it?" Devrim Kay's voice said through the radio on Cassandra's chest, she grabbed the device and put it against her mouth.

"Roger that, we'll get on it." She said before putting the radio back in its regular spot. "Well, guess we got something to do!" She said joyfully, before hopping onto her sparrow.

Russell mounted his and off they went to the Outskirts of the EDZ. A few Fallen shot at them but were inconsequential in their journey to the Servitor that was up to no good.

They stopped at an empty courtyard, with a massive Servitor flowing Ether into its Fallen underlings.

Russell jumped off his sparrow and pulled out the Ace of Spades from its holster then began firing at it.

Cassandra hopped off hers and wielded a rifle that he could not identify.

The Servitor twitched as translucent white tentacles extended from behind it. Russell continued shooting at it as Cassandra dealt with the pesky twitching Fallen.

The Hunter quickly switched out his helmet for the _Celestial Nighthawk_ , a helmet that modded his Golden Gun so that it fired one hyper-powered shot instead of six less powerful ones.

He reached into the air and a Golden Gun that looked like the Last Word materialized. Flames engulfed him as he aimed and shot at the massive Servitor's single eye. Upon impact it immediately started spinning and exploded in a grand show of fire and black Ether.

"Great job!" Cassandra said as she patted his shoulder and gave him a peck on his cheek, making his face redden and all of a sudden, the air felt a lot hotter.

A chest spawned in the middle of the courtyard.

"Come on, let's go find out what we got!" Cassandra said as she rushed up to it.

It slid open and a few blue engrams came out, plus some Dusklight Shards. Russell picked one up and it revealed a note.

 _DON'T TRUST HER WORDS. SHE IS LYING TO YOU._ It said, Russell turned around to face Cassandra about the note only to meet a palm to his face as he was knocked out.

His eyes fluttered open.

* * *

 **If you can, read the entry actchoosereact**

 **It's a great piece.**


	14. Eyes Up, Guardian

Russell felt calm, peaceful, balanced. His inner-self was refreshed and ready to take on anything the day had to fling at him.

He blinked a few times as he found himself sitting at the ramen shop located in Tower's bazaar. His eyes shut and opened rapidly as he concentrated on the bowl of ramen in front of him, steaming hot as it was just prepared. The chef gave Russell an expectant look.

"Well?" She asked, whilst tending to her other duties as a cook.

"Looks good, thanks." Russell replied, giving a small smile as he took the bowl with some plastic utensils and headed out to look for a seat. Upon finding one he made himself comfortable on the metal chair and placed the plastic bowl on the holed table.

Then he dug in after tearing off the wrapping of his spoon. It was rich, meaty and everything a Hunter could want from a cheap ramen joint, definitely excelled the glimmer he had to pay for it. He was too busy enjoying his food that he didn't realize Cassandra had taken a seat across from him.

Russell slurped up the last of his food and looked to his girlfriend, who had a soft smile on her face as she watched him, arms crossed.

"Enjoying your food, I see?" Cassandra coyly said as her smile turned to a devious smirk. Russell blinked a few times as he thought of the implication. "We've been assigned to a Nightfall operation, report to Zavala as soon as you can."

Russell nodded as Cassandra then stood up, walking to the ramen joint.

" _ **Man…I feel unusually good for some reason.**_ " Russell said to his Ghost.

" _ **Yeah, definitely.**_ " The voice that replied was not of Jingles. It was feminine. " _ **Get to the edge.**_ "

Russell obeyed the voice, as he walked up to the edge of the bazaar, looking down at the Last City in its glorious, state-contracted construction that had been going on for a bit too long now.

Especially when that fireteam that conducted a raid at the Botza district tore up the place, resetting what little progress was made. Russell chuckled to himself.

" _ **Jump.**_ " The voice ordered.

"What?" Russell quietly replied as he looked around himself to check if no one was listening. "Are you crazy!?" He whispered.

" _ **Just trust me. Jump.**_ " The voice sounded more imposing. " _ **Do it. Besides, what would the consequences be? Guardians do this all the time, don't they?**_ "

Russell bit his cheek. "Well…kind of, but everyone'll think I'm crazy!"

" _ **So?**_ " The female voice said. " _ **Just fucking jump, please.**_ "

"Russell? What are you doing there?" Cassandra innocently asked as she walked up behind Russell, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Come, we have to report to Zavala." She turned the Hunter around, giving a soft smile as her diamond blue eyes looked into his.

Russell glanced back to the ledge, Cassandra's hand guided it back to looking at her face.

"I just need some air…some time to think." Russell said, giving the edge a side-eye.

"You could think on the way." Cassandra's smile grew as she wrapped an arm around Russell's torso.

"Yeah, just give me a-" He was interrupted as her lips crashed into his. They only separated cause of a lack of air on both sides.

"Don't worry about the ledge so much, come with me." Cassandra peppily said as she pulled on his arm.

Why was she trying to keep him away from the edge at all cost?

" _ **This is your last chance, JUMP YOU BRAIN DEAD IDIOT!**_ " Russell winced as the voice started screaming.

He took a deep breath as he pushed Cassandra off and rushed to the ledge.

"No!" She screamed after him as he leapt into the air.

Reality seemed to crumble and warp into itself as he fell.

Darkness crept over him, and eventually overtook him as he plummeted lower into the City.

Then a flash of light as he was suddenly jerked up sitting. It was practically impossible to see, there was an oppressive wind blowing from the side and explosive wind chimes were sounding everywhere.

The Ascendant Plane.

Russell frantically tried moving his hands, only to find them bound by some kind of tether made of dark magic. He tried moving his legs, only to find them also constricted.

"What the fuck, where am I?" He pondered aloud as he attempted to break free of the shackles.

A Ghost materialized in front of him. It was Jingles! Except it actually wasn't. He didn't have a white-hot fire trailing him and certainly did not look as Taken as he was right now.

"Jingles?" Russell's brows furrowed as he looked at the construct, silently doubting whether it was actually his Ghost. "Jingles, is that you?"

"It's Mint you dummy, I'm breaking you free." Mint then zapped the shackles with beams of light, setting Russell free. He rubbed his wrists as his feet met the floor.

"I couldn't save all your guns, so you'll have to make do with this…" The Ace of Spades dropped into his lap. "This, and this." Then the Wishbringer, and a massive Hammerhead machine gun that knocked the breath out of him as it landed. A Celestial Nighthawk helmet materialized onto his head.

"Get moving, before she notices." Mint disappeared, and Russell stashed all of his weapons in their rightful place. Ace twirled in his hand as his fingers wrapped around its familiar grip.

"I've marked a few points on your map, I'm trying to open a few portals of Light so you could stand a chance against the Abyssal Champions…" There was a horrid screech and stomping in Russell's direction. "Speak of the devil…Move. Get to a point quick."

There was a whoosh of air as a massive axe narrowly missed Russell's head, but the impact sent him flying. He caught himself and bolted to one of the white diamonds on his HUD, doing his best to evade and side-step the Abyssal Champions that spawned out of nowhere in the middle of his path.

His feet caught themselves on some kind of branch growing out of the ground and he tripped. By the sound of their stomping, the Champions were approaching with their colossal axes that would no doubt either crush him to pieces. He backpedaled, trying to scramble himself to his feet but failing miserably.

" _ **SHOOT THE GROUND UNDERNEATH YOU!**_ " Mint screamed, making Russell instinctively start shooting dirt with the Ace of Spades, cracking a few holes. A golden flood started coming out of the ground, rejuvenating Russell as he felt his Super ability charge up.

He reached into the air and a Golden Gun appeared. He took his time to aim as he only had one shot, and his sights were trained on the head of that giant Abyssal Knight that was lumbering its way towards him.

Russell pulled the trigger and it looked like the Hive monster was disintegrated. He stood there in astonishment as he watched the figure turn into flaming dust.

In his awestruck moment, he was swung at by another Abyssal Champion that had somehow snuck up behind him. Practically crushed, Russell turned on his back and raised another Golden Gun, haphazardly shooting in the general direction of the monster.

His shot landed on its chest, which only enraged it as what looked like its bone helmet fell off, revealing an ugly monster underneath. It screeched and quickened its pace. Russell continued backpedaling as he waited for another Golden Gun to appear, swearing as he realized that he wasn't in the geyser of Light before pulling out the Wishbringer to finish off the massive enemy about to turn him into a red paste.

Russell rolled to the side as it smashed down, shooting the massive axe with his shotgun before stumbling his way standing. He grit his teeth as he pressed into the attack after hearing the Abyssal Champion's weapon snap and crumble away into the wind. A few more slugs from the automatic-fire shotgun put it down.

" _ **Just hold on for a little while longer! I'm trying to open a portal out of here!**_ " That same horrid sound made its way to Russell's ears as he saw three more Abyssal Champions spawn in on top of green Hive runes in the ground. The Hunter kept his ground on the pool of Light as he let out hyper-powered shots of the Golden Gun as quickly as it could regenerate, taking down several in a span of a few seconds.

More of them appeared.

Russell readied himself for a longer fight.

Then a pulsation shook the ground as a opaque portal opened up in front of him. The Champions stopped moving and kneeled.

A certain Warlock emerged from the portal.

"So it's true…" Russell muttered to himself as he pulled out another Golden Gun.

Cassandra sighed. " **I'm sorry you had to discover it under such circumstances.** " Her voice was different, omnipotent. As quickly as Russell had took out his Super ability, she had knocked it out of his hand with a single shot of her own pistol.

His eyes widened as the flaming gun fell from his hand, and all of a sudden he felt a lot more vulnerable facing his new enemy.

Cassandra slowly walked towards Russell, a smirk on her face and Darkness embedded in her eyes, turning the diamond-blue it usual shone into something much more sinister.

Russell drew the Ace of Spades and began shooting at her, but in the back of his mind he knew his resistance wouldn't do anything to her.

" _ **I got something for you!**_ " A portal opened from above and threw up a floating transparent orb. " _ **Take that and maybe you'll stand a chance!**_ **"** Russell picked up the orb, the edges of his vision obscured and he was now holding some sort of crystal gun that shot explosive blobs of…something.

" _ **I know this might sound crazy, but run into her and explode!**_ "

" _ **Are you crazy!? And how do I explode!?**_ "

" _ **You can just wish it!**_ "

" _ **That doesn't even make any-**_ "

Too late to run into her, as Cassandra had closed the gap between them and cupped his face into her hands, pulling him uncomfortably close to her.

" **I'm sorry…** " Cassandra whispered to him as she pulled him into a hug. " **Everything will be okay…don't be scared.** " She cooed, then an arm traced itself to his neck and her nails dug into it.

Russell's fists balled up as he wished to purify this demon.

His entire being felt like it burned as he quite literally exploded and some sort of Taken repellant material was thrown onto Cassandra.

She hissed as she backed away, her eyes scanning him head to toe as he expanded the distance between the two.

"I should have known." Russell said as he exhaled. "I should have known you would do this again."

" **It was all for you…please, just stay!** " Cassandra pleaded.

"I would rather you stay gone than see you like this. Again." The Warlock looked hurt at the statement. Genuine anguish, then her face twisted into anger.

" **Fine.** " Cassandra said through gritted teeth, and a towering shadow of herself appeared behind her. " **If you're not going willingly, then I'll** _ **make**_ _ **you.**_ " There was a giggle. She looked to be charging something in her hand. Russell reacted quickly and used another Golden Gun to shoot it, staggering her.

The sounds of a portal opening up behind him was music to his ears.

" _ **Got something for you!**_ " Mint said as Russell fell backwards into the portal.

And right into the middle of an open court yard with heavily armed guards at practically every other inch. Men in orange jumpsuits backed away from the Hunter as he landed with a thud on the concrete floor.

"Where did I end up in?" He heard several footsteps and once his dizziness cleared up, saw several barrels pointed straight at his beautiful, beautiful face. "I surrender." He lazily raised his ends while lying down.

"Good choice." One of the guards said as Russell was forcefully stood up and handcuffed with these high-tech hard light handcuffs that were certainly a good testament to the unnecessary replacement of something that already works.

There was a lion's roar as several Taken beings pursued him.

"Ah shit, everyone get back to their cells!" Another guard screamed as gunfire erupted across the entire courtyard as the multitude of guards fended off the rather small Taken threat. The people in the orange jumpsuits bolted in every direction possible.

"Is this a prison!?" Russell asked a guard who was currently occupied with a Taken Phalanx about to send the poor man to the Architects.

The man shot a burst of his assault rifle, staggering the beast before finishing it with another crack of his weapon. "Yeah! You picked a pretty good spot to bring these fucks!" He screamed in reply, whether he was being sarcastic or not was lost in the gunfire.

"This looks like a super-max prison! Prison of Elders type shit!" Russell screamed back, ducking as a guard was sent flying over his head and fed to the Architects, the bone snap sounding a lot louder than it actually was. "Why the fuck are there so many armed guards!?" He side-stepped a smack from a Taken Goblin, then kicked the beast in its leg before tackling it to the ground. There was a struggle but Russell managed to make it out alive as one of the guards pulled him off and shot the Goblin dead.

"Yeah, a couple decades ago that would've been true!" The same guard replied, his assault rifle barking in between words. "What's the Prison of Elders!?

"You're telling me this is _not_ a super-max prison!?" Russell backed away as a Taken Knight spewed its burning substance all over the floor, burning a poor guard to death. "Has the world gone that bad!?"

"Unfortunately! Show me your handcuffs, I'll cut you outta them!" The guard said, turning to Russell who showed his handcuffs. A few shots of the guard's assault rifle took the high-tech contraptions out of commission, freeing Russell's hands.

He pulled out the Ace of Spades and had it sing its clanky song as he put down several Taken beasts right out the bat, making some explode as he hit those poor ones in the head.

"You're that gunslinger guy!" The two of them were pressed back to back as the situation got a bit direr.

Russell took off the Celestial Nighthawk, and reached out for his Golden Gun.

Six shots, which were all quickly depleted as six enemies went down. He threw a Swarm grenade afterwards, watching in satisfaction as all the little pellets tracked enemies and put them down or at least heavily damaged them.

A knife was thrown, taking down a Taken Vandal. Russell slid underneath a Taken Minotaur and unloaded a few rounds into its crotch and then kicked off a Goblin to climb onto the same Minotaur, stabbing it a few times in the head.

Bodies faded away as the fighting grew to a close, the noise level went down as less gunfire erupted, and it seemed like the humans were the victors as the Taken were pulling back.

" _ **Nice shots, you're still sharp.**_ " Mint commented.

" _ **Thanks.**_ "

"Now unfortunately, despite your assistance, which we're grateful for, I'm gonna have to put you back in cuffs. Don, you're on the hook for destroying that pair." Russell turned around to face a towering heavily armored man looking down on him. "Your hands, please."

Russell rolled his eyes as he put out his arms, showing his palms. Those same high-tech handcuffs were slapped on his wrists and seemed to choke out the blood flow in his hands. He sighed, but didn't resist. It was most likely best to not make more enemies than he already had. He'll have to figure something out later.

. . .

Russell groaned as he waited the third hour for someone to come represent him but nobody came. He was sitting in a brightly lit room that held a foldable table in the middle and two foldable chairs across. He was sitting in one of the two chairs. There was a guard in one corner and a security camera in the other.

A man in a black suit and a suitcase walked into the interrogation room. The man had a blank face and a clean cut of blonde hair that was pulled back and seemed to be held together by gel. He sat down, putting the suitcase flat on the table.

" _ **Watch what you say, there's an entire room looking at everything you're doing right now.**_ "

"Hello." The man started, giving his best impression of a serial killer. "My name is Jim Alan. UN representative."

The newly introduced Jim Alan unlocked the suitcase and turned the open side to Russell. Inside there was a vial of a black substance that looked like it was flowing despite there being no room to move in.

"Is that a Taken Blight?" Russell asked as he looked at the glass vial closer. "How'd you get this?"

"We found this in Colorado." The man looked at Russell blankly, seemingly expecting him to say something. "Would you know of the…infection there?"

"No." Russell shook his head.

 _Remember your training, what Cayde told you!_ He thought, blinking afterwards.

The man looked unimpressed.

"Would you know of what the…Taken are?"

"A threat. A big, bad one. One I've been keeping tabs on for a while now." Russell said coolly, crossing his arms as he maintained eye contact with his interrogator.

"And you are unaware of the spread of the…Taken?" Jim prodded.

"Goes where the Queen wants them to go, or whoever is in charge. I don't even think anyone's in charge of where to occupy, they just do."

Jim's hand rubbed his chin as it looked like he was thinking.

"Who is the queen?"

Russell sighed. "She's a…dangerous one, to say the least."

Jim huffed, and stood up, placing his palms flat against the table. "Okay, let's cut the shit. I've had an encounter with your so-called queen and she damn near killed me."

Russell blinked a few times. A sudden urge came to him.

Laughter.

He laughed his lungs out, to the point where he was nearly blue.

Catching his breath, he slapped his knee and exhaled. "You're telling me that you, in your righteous businessman suit and case, made it out alive versus Cassandra? And you expect me to believe _that?_ "

"That's her name? I expected…"

"Anyways, _how_ did you manage to survive?" Russell's serious face came up again, as his emotions went flat, and he stared into the now interrogee.

"…Fortunate circumstances and three people, who have supernatural abilities such as yours."

"Was one of them named Xiao?"

Jim nodded.

"Yep, that's them."

"You are acquainted with them?"

"Yeah, you could say so."

Jim's lips lifted into a wide smile. "I have a proposition for you, mister Dulk."

"I never told you my name."

"We've been keeping tabs on your every action."

"Makes sense. Shoot your proposition, oh amazing businessman."

"How do you feel of the potential reformation of Overwatch?" The proposal caught the Hunter's attention. He looked at Jim, who sported a wide grin. "Think about it, there's a new threat on the block, the world is on the brink of collapse…"

"You believed in Overwatch?"

"I looked up to you, when I was a kid."

If Russell had a drink in his mouth, it would've been on the floor by now.

"What?" He looked shocked. "I only went public for one mission!"

"That was all it took to convince me. So, what do you say, _Gunslinger_?"

The title did warm his heart a bit. Jim offered his hand.

"Deal." Russell grasped it firmly and shook it.

An armed guard barged into the interrogation room.

"A woman by the name of Xiao Zhen wishes to speak with Mister Dulk, sir."

"She can wait." Jim waved the guard off.

"Bad idea." Russell warned. "You don't keep _Hunter Mama_ waiting."

"Bring her in then, and all of her companions. We have some discussing to do."

* * *

 **I swear this game does not want to give me Cursebreaker or 1K Voices.**


	15. Reform

Russell's stomach dropped as he saw the fiery Huntress entire the room, and she looked ready to beat the shit out of him. He paled as she took her spot across the table that served as the only type of buffer between him and being pummeled to pieces.

He saw Xiao's knuckles whiten as her grip on the topside of the table tightened. She looked ready to pounce on him and stab him a thousand times. Crow and Edgar were behind her, ready and waiting for the inevitability that she would attack.

Which was as soon as their eyes met. Xiao leaped over the table and sprung onto Russell, her knees locking his legs down and one hand grabbing him by the neck whilst the other was ready to go to town. And go to town it did as her knuckles repeatedly smashed into his face in until he was bleeding.

Over the ringing that had taken place in his ears, Russell could hear the lone guard that accompanied them trying to get close to pull Xiao off, but it was safe to assume that he was held back by the two other Guardians in the room.

He felt multiple bruises start forming as he lost count how many times he was clocked in the face. It was probably close to a hundred as she was getting tired, indicated by the slowing of the punches.

The beating only stopped when Edgar and Crow pulled her off, sitting her down behind the table.

"Take a seat." Xiao said, her voice unstable and extremely irritated. " _Now._ " She commanded, which Russell immediately followed as he sat himself down across from her. The Huntress' glare bore holes into his soul.

Russell bit his cheek.

"I want five-thousand glimmer _per_ mistake you made that day." Xiao crossed her arms and huffed in exasperation. "And if you don't start talking I'm gonna come over there and brutalize your-"

"Alright, I get it!" Russell threw his hands up, then let them fall to his sides. "I fucked up that day."

"I should've shot her, and not you, nor Crow." Xiao nodded in agreement, she looked satisfied already. "I shouldn't have shot the blight, I shouldn't have jumped in the portal, I fell into a simulation, I nearly got honey-dicked by Cassandra, I summoned more Taken to a prison, and now I'm stuck here."

It felt wrong to Russell, he was so used to brushing off mistakes and taking it in stride, that acknowledging them in an unadulterated way was quite a bit of a reality check. Guess that being immortal doesn't make you a perfect person. Nor does trying to copy the Hunter Vanguard either.

Xiao chuckled. "You owe me big time, hotshot." There was a suspicious glint in her eye as she put her hand on the table. "Now what is this I'm hearing about the reformation of Overwatch?"

The man at the side of the table, who was just standing there doing nothing of note, cleared his throat. "That information has not left this room. How do you know?" His tone tried to make it seem like he was calm and collected but really, it just made him sound agitated.

Xiao pointed to Russell. "Thank him for being a walking security vulnerability."

"Oh, shut up, you're scaring him. Mint contacted us and let us listen in." Crow butted in, although it didn't do much to calm Jim down. "Don't worry about it, us Guardians…we're pretty close."

"Close to the point of eavesdropping each other?" Jim snorted. "Anyways, yes, we were discussing of the potential reformation of Overwatch." He said, with a hint of annoyance.

"Also, since when did you become a role model?" Xiao asked.

"Long story." Russell replied, then looked to Jim. "Continue."

Jim cleared his throat once more. "As I was saying, the Taken are a threat that we can't face without unity. The world is in chaos, no country wants to talk to each other about it, the people are riled up and have no one to look up to, and I could go on and on. Also, the Queen really scares me."

Xiao laughed. "Pretty inspiring, so…what's Overwatch all about?"

"I'm sure you already understood from the implication, but it was a former organization that hosted all the greatest fighters of Earth under one banner to keep peace in the world." Jim sighed. "They're gone now, and we need them again."

"So, what's _actually_ in the suitcase?" Xiao pointed to the suitcase that had fallen to the ground. "You showed it to us when you visited our base. How did you even get your hands on it in the first place?"

"This…sample, dropped when a soldier was, er, Taken and subsequently killed." Jim kneeled down and picked it up with both hands, gently placing it onto the plastic tabletop, then unlocking the clasps and opening it to reveal the contents.

"That's Penumbra purification material, Xiao I'm sure you're aware of this." Mint materialized to the side of Russell, and as soon as she did, Xiao had her hand cannon pointed straight at her.

"Who invited Cassandra's Ghost here?" The Huntress asked, her eyes squinting as she presumably locked onto her target. Russell stood in front of the Ghost as she cowered behind his shoulder.

"She's just using Jingles' body." Russell calmly stated. "Don't worry, she's not hostile."

"She got some balls to look like that." Xiao holstered her weapon.

"As a Ghost, I actually only have a single-"

"Shut up."

Mint's single photoreceptor rolled. "Anyways, this was present mostly during the purification of the Vault at the Dreaming City. I'm sure you're aware of how it works, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, purify the right plate and shit." Xiao muttered, sitting herself back down. "Convoluted-ass lock system…" She mumbled to herself.

"When Russell escaped from Cassandra's…simulation, he…uh, exploded an Antumbra cleanse onto her, and it seemed to have made her vulnerable, but he didn't want to test the theory out." Mint laughed. "Anyways…if you got this after a _person_ was Taken and killed…then…"

"Oh no. No, we are not. No." Jim said, shaking his head and sounding very aggravated. "I will not stand for this."

"Calm down, we're not gonna sacrifice people…yet. Just kidding. We just have a few targets to hunt." Mint reassured, although in a not very reassuring tone.

Jim composed himself. "Very well then. Do this under Overwatch's banner and you will have a blank cheque on our newly declared war versus the Taken."

Xiao clapped her hands together. "Very well, is there anything we need to do beforehand, to make sure this goes over smoothly?"

Jim tilted his head. "There are a few UN representatives that would give us trouble…if you could deal with them that would make things a lot easier for me."

"Go on, tell me their names and we'll get it done by the end of the week." Xiao stood up.

"I'll send them over to Russell's…drone." Jim looked at Mint, somewhat confused by the light contraption. "Now that is a fascinating object."

"Not an object." Mint snapped back. "Fully sentient, buddy."

"Well, sorry then…does it have a name?" Jim's interest in the Ghost seemed to have increased by a large factor as he got closer to Mint.

"Call me Mint." The man slowly nodded as he watched Mint's every action. "And first thing you could do for me is stop being such a creep." Then he stepped back.

"Apologies. You're a bit…hypnotic. Do all of you have one?" Jim looked to the three other Guardians.

"They all do, they're a bit unsocial." Mint prodded, and Russell could tell her intentions were to aggravate another Ghost.

Another Ghost appeared, this time in the form of a snowball with two twigs sticking out of it like ears. "Mint, could you please stop trying to aggravate every Ghost you encounter?" It spoke in a polite, level-headed, male voice. "You are even worse that Jingles."

Mint turned to Russell. "Are you gonna take that lying down?" He sighed.

"Mint, shut up."

/

 _Paris, France._

" _ **Seriously, we had to go for the one that likes to go to fancy parties?**_ " Russell grumbled as he straightened his suit and dusted his shoulders. He looked at himself using the mirror, and saw his obviously grumpy face which only made him even more ticked off.

He muttered more complaints to himself as Mint appeared in front of him. "Oh come on, you look great!" She commented, twirling around. "Come on, loosen up a bit! It's gonna be fun!"

"Could you have gotten me something to get in that doesn't make me look like a snob?" Russell asked as he fiddled with the bowtie. "Like, a technician or something?"

Mint groaned. "Come on, why are you so serious? Just unwind a bit, have some fun, I heard the girls there-" He smacked the Ghost.

"Let's not talk about potential dates." Russell snapped.

"Jeez, sorry." Mint muttered. "There's going to be a technical crew at the party, you could disguise yourself as one of them." She sounded almost sad.

"…Sorry for hitting you." Russell said as he quickly changed for something that would resemble what a stage worker would wear.

"It's okay, I pulled a string there." Mint replied. "Let's get this on the road."

Russell made his way out of the lofty apartment and breathed the fresh, evening air. The party should be starting in a couple hours. The venue was a walking distance away, so he had time to relax a bit.

He pulled up a file on their target. Emmanuelle Lebon, France's UN representative that had been ardently against Overwatch since their inception. A rather promiscuous figure, it was said that he would do favors in exchange for some…less than scrupulous acts, from both men and women. Mint managed to dig up his former ties with several people that was in one way or another related to Talon, so that could explain why he was so against the reformation of the former hero organization.

Russell sighed as he pulled up a photo. A white man with stoic features, big round eyes underneath frameless glasses, a pointy nose and a big round belly. In the picture he was surrounded by beautiful women in scantily clad dresses. He held an empty glass in one hand while in the other he was holding onto a woman's thigh.

"Ugh, this guy's gross." Mint commented as she floated lazily around Russell, humming old tunes to herself.

"I would definitely agree." Russell replied, sighing afterwards. "He seems to be an easy target to bag, although he's probably surrounded by security."

"You know, Jim did say that he would prefer _not_ to use violence." Russell commented, yawning afterwards. "Is there Talon present? We could 'save' him from them."

There were a few beeps from Mint. "Um…there's an entire security detail from Talon assigned to him. In fact nearly a quarter of the attendees seem to be Talon agents-"

"Oh no." Russell said. "We gotta move, is there any Talon agents nearby?" Russell brushed his hair back and started jogging.

"To your left-" Mint disappeared.

" _ **Direct left.**_ _**In the alleyway. Purple trench coat.**_ " Russell looked to his left, staring into a dark alleyway in between two buildings. Sombra's purple accents stood out subtly, mixing in somehow despite her being a walking light bulb. She was beckoning Russell to join her.

Russell sighed as he turned her direction and walked, shooting a quick glance around himself to make sure nobody was following him.

"What are you doing here?" Russell whispered, standing face-to-face with Sombra as she stood confidently with one hand on her hip and the other twirling an SMG.

"Just wanted to check in with my favorite _Guardian._ " Sombra giggled after saying that. "That's so cheesy I love it."

The Ace of Spades materialized on Russell's thigh. " _Sombra._ " He said, his face grave. " _How_ did you learn that?"

The hacker's confidence seemed to have been dialed back a bit as she cleared her throat. "Your buddy Xiao really loves talking."

Russell rolled his eyes. "Of course." He lowly drew the Ace of Spades, pointing it at her torso. "Any word of this gets out, you won't make it three hours after I hear about it. _Trust._ "

Sombra playfully raised her hands. "Alright, chill out. It's not even that bad of a secret. Although the immortality-" She stopped herself there as Russell tilted his head in her direction. "What, it's pretty cool!"

"Just shut your mouth." Russell curtly said. "And get out of my sight."

"Jeez, I thought we were friends." Sombra mumbled as she grabbed hold of a pipe on a wall next to them, and started climbing up to the roof. "Good luck on your mission! Oh yeah, I got you a worker uniform!" She tossed down a folded pile of shiny clothes

Russell tuned her out as he turned around, his new worker outfit materialized on him and Ace dematerialized from his thigh.

"Hey, Russell!" He jumped as he heard Sombra's voice through his comms link. "I'm gonna do ya a favor, and…there, you should be cleared for entry at the party!"

" _ **Don't worry, I let her in. She thinks she's being clever.**_ " Russell sighed.

"…I'm pretty sure you're going to ask me for something in return." He grumbled.

"Well, I want an apology."

"Fine, sorry."

"Good enough."

"That can't be it." Russell sighed in exasperation.

"That's it! You let me live years ago, so I'm just repaying the favor." The comms link closed.

"Are you trying to set me up with her?" Russell exclaimed, somewhat annoyed at Mint.

" _ **Oh, come on, loosen up a bit. She's just having fun.**_ " Mint replied. " _ **Maybe if you opened up a bit-**_ "

"Shut up." Russell snapped as he continued to his objective, his steps were a bit harder than they normally were.

The two kept quiet as Russell got closer to the party venue. It was now visible, and the thumps of overpowering bass shook the ground around them. In the sky were purple and blue spotlights shining bright into the clear night.

There was a massive crowd piled up in front of a massive venue that looked more like a palace than a simple place to party in.

"Well, this is it." Russell exhaled. "It's go time." He walked up to the front, snaking through the crowds as he found himself in front of a massive bouncer in a nice tuxedo.

"Crew entrance is over there." The burly man's voice was deep and was fitted for his body. He pointed to the right and nodded that direction.

"Thanks." Russell nodded as he made his way through the crowd that just oozed of fanciness and entitlement, as the guests were all glaring at him because how dare a regular old crew worker be breathing the same air as they do?

Upon making it out of the dense mass of rich people, he turned the corner and saw some scaffolding and a man in similar attire as him staring intently at a data pad.

Russell made his way to the person, clearing his throat to get his attention. The worker glanced up from his tablet.

"Name?" He asked, tapping something on the device.

"Dulk, Russell."

Various noises came from the man's mouth as his finger scrolled down the tablet. "Ah, right here."

The two exchanged nods and Russell entered the building.

The music was even louder inside, and the Earth seemed to shake every time bass passed through the speakers.

Russell walked down a narrow hallway, barely enough to fit two people side-by-side. It was nearly pitch black, only illuminated by the neon aesthetic from the main ballroom.

Another worker stood at the end of the hallway, tapping his foot impatiently as his face was somewhat disguised by the darkness.

"You're late." The man said as Russell approached. He sounded annoyed.

"Sorry, got caught-."

"I don't want to hear it." The man waved his hand dismissively. "We're behind schedule, setup points Delta and Bravo and you'll be done for the night." The worker pointed towards a staircase.

The two separated without a word.

Russell made his way up the stairs, following the new diamond on his HUD.

His travels took him to a balcony area, overlooking the frame that held the lights and speakers. To his feet was a black protective case.

Russell thumbed the locks open and lifted the top lid, revealing a black device packed neatly in dark foam. He picked up the contraption. It was a pyramid in shape and smooth to the touch, but the edges were sharp.

"What is this?" Russell mumbled as he turned the device around, closely inspecting it.

Mint materialized and started blasting rays of Light at it. "It's some sort of unfolding speaker. It's tuned to emit a really high-pitched tone. That doesn't seem good for the ears."

Russell clicked his tongue, and the use of the gadget was now clear to him. "This is a suppression device, they're probably going to use it for something bad."

"Of course, this is a terrorist organization we're talking about here."

He looked over the balcony, down at the main party. "Right, tons of rich and influential people. We gotta put a stop to this."

"Look at our target. He seems to be wearing some sort of earplugs." Mint remarked. Russell tried focusing on their objective for the night, but his eyes couldn't distinguish anything in his ears. A zoomed in picture appeared on his HUD.

It was a photo of a hearing aid that looked to be surgically implanted into his target's ear.

"Mister Lebon seems to be in on this scheme…" Russell muttered. He heard footsteps behind him.

The Hunter turned around, looking at an armed guard dressed in all-black and wearing what seemed to be night vision goggles.

"Everything alright here?" The guard asked in a friendly tone. He seemed to be nice. "Having trouble setting up your ASD?"

"Yeah, I just can't figure out how to prime it if that makes sense." Russell sheepishly said as he tilted his head towards the device. "Can't seem to find any latch to unfold it or something." He hoped he was saying the right thing.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I can show you how it's done." The guard put shouldered his rifle and stepped to the device, kneeling down in front of it and picking it up with his gloved hands.

"See this button at the bottom here?" A gloved finger was pointed to a small cutout at the center of the bottom of the pyramid and pressed on it.

The device unfolded and was placed flat against the ground. "Tear away these." The guard pointed out as he tore away the three triangles that were the byproducts of unfolding a pyramid. "And that should be-argh!"

Russell grabbed the man by the throat and held a knife to it with his other hand. "Now don't move an inch or it'll end badly for you."

The guard struggled against his grip. "You're a nice guy, don't belong in this business." Russell coldly said as his forearm tightened around the man's neck. "Get out of here as soon as you wake up."

He felt the man go limp, and gently placed the guard down, dragging the corpse to a wall.

Russell looked to the balcony across and saw a few workers setting up their devices.

"Get me out of this crap outfit." Russell muttered as the Ace of Spades materialized in his hand.


	16. Rally

**Season of the Drifter woooo**

* * *

 _Volgograd, Russia_

Xiao Zhen quietly complained to herself as she straightened the black blouse she was forced to put on for this business meeting.

Her target, Katya Volskaya. Renowned Russian businesswoman turned UN representative for the glorious nation of Russia. Where all your dreams come true, provided you could also deal with the cold and massive grizzly bears. This one was an enigmatic case. For one, she still held significant stakes in her massive company, _Volskaya Industries_ , whilst keeping her spot as a diplomatic figure, conflict of interest be damned.

Xiao had heard reports of a break-in months ago at the company's headquarters and main Syvatogor production facility, but those were mostly rumors. She wondered if she could use that against Katya.

Xiao's heels clacked on the floor as she walked down a hallway of this fancy high-tech office building. On the corner of the wall was a glowing holographic sign that pointed to a staircase that led to floors higher up and washrooms.

She would need the washrooms, as she was getting a ping from Genji, her partner tasked with running recon and tactical. Xiao looked behind her as the door to the women's washroom slid open and she entered a stall, locking the door behind her. Her Ghost opened the comms link.

" _What._ " She said, barely above a whisper. "Don't you see I'm kind of busy right now?" She snapped.

"I apologize very much for interrupting, but a…contact reached out and she may be of use to our mission." Genji's apologetic voice said.

"Put her on." Xiao promptly said as the line was switch.

"Hey, sister! How's my favorite Guardian doin'?" The Drifter's voice made her jump.

"Drifter?" Xiao asked, confused.

"Just kidding, it's me." That hacker woman from earlier said, her name was Sombra, if Xiao remembered correctly. "Just wanted to help out my _second_ favorite Guardian."

"Just talk." Xiao said, exasperated by the cocky voice.

"You're going after my good friend Katya without telling me? Come on, I thought friends talked to each other!" Sombra said, laughing afterwards. "Just kidding, we're not friends yet."

Xiao rolled her eyes. "Well, what do you know?"

A few beeps sounded from the other side. "You should be getting a few…er, compromising documents about her. Reputation ruining stuff. It's juicy."

The Huntress was somewhat horrified about what could be those documents, as they were all labelled explicit and very sexual names.

"Ignore the names, they're there to throw you off." Sombra stopped herself to giggle some more, only adding to Xiao's annoyance. "Feel free to rename, anyways, if anything in there goes out to the public…let's just say it won't be pretty for her, and her company."

Xiao paused and thought about establishing a relationship with this sleazy hacker. She shrugged. "Thank you. Although I have one question."

"Shoot."

"How did you get the Drifter's voice?"

"Ask your buddy Russell." The comms link was cut shortly after.

Xiao let out a small hum as she stepped out of the bathroom stall, making her way back into the hallway and turned to the staircase.

" _ **Pick up the pace. You're gonna be late.**_ " Mac said through their mental link. Xiao grumbled to herself as she pushed open the door to the staircase and started ascending, realizing the pain of walking in heels, and subsequently complaining about it as many times as she could.

Once reaching the designated floor, she pushed open another door and found herself in another bland grey hallway that had holographic signs at about every turn. She was supposed to be heading to _Meeting Room 1_.

Xiao brainstormed over how she would deal about this. There would be a big table in the middle of a giant, windowed room, and multiple people, most likely unarmed. She could execute the other business people, but that would reflect badly on her. What about locking the doors and knocking everyone but her target about? Her mind brainstormed for possibilities in getting a private one-on-one with _the_ Katya Volskaya.

" _ **Are there actually any windows in that room?**_ " Xiao asked.

" _ **Nope. Just screens that show the outside world.**_ "

Perfect. She could have Mac disable the screens, obscuring vision, knock out some executives, then she would be alone for a few minutes before security would be called.

Whilst thinking, she bumped into a man walking with a certain swagger that bordered on punchable levels of assholery.

"Watch it." The larger, older man in a somewhat ill-fitted suit said. Xiao fixed him with a glare, making him considerably pale.

"Get out of my sight." She icily said as she dusted off her blouse, grimacing at the man who scurried off to an elevator somewhere. She sighed and composed herself. Have to look good for the meeting after all.

"Xiao, this is Genji. I would like to wish you good luck on-" Xiao shut the link off before it distracted her too much.

God she was attaching herself way too much to people she met only weeks ago.

She turned a corner and faced the door that if she stood too close to, would slide open. Taking a deep breath, she thought happy thoughts.

"Calm down, Xiao…don't shank anyone as soon as you get in…just play it cool." Xiao rapidly exhaled and stepped forward, putting on her best blank face. One that would be passable for a business meeting.

The door slid open and the conference room was dark.

Her heel clacked against the ground as she advanced another step, her gut sinking a bit. The lights turned on as the door shut behind her, and then the click of a lock.

"Veteran agent, yes?" Katya Volskaya was standing at the other end of the room looking directly at Xiao with eyes akin to a hawk, one the Huntress was all too familiar with.

In the corner of the room was a massive woman with pink hair and a big scar on the left of her forehead that reached to the side of her eye. She had massive arms that would certainly compare to a Titan, and would probably be used to smack her around like one.

"You are battle-hardened." Katya's eyes narrowed as she made direct eye contact with Xiao, who returned with a glare. "Tell me, who are you working with?"

"None of your business." Xiao replied, then turned to look at the woman in the corner who only glared back at her, and cracked her knuckles. "If you expected me here, then you probably know why."

Katya snorted. "What is a woman like you working for Overwatch? Wasted potential." She wondered aloud.

"Cut the shit, you know what I'm here to ask."

Malfeasance materialized on the side of her thigh. Her hand hovered over the weapon. The buff lady in the corner noticed this and stepped forward with her hand balled up in a fist.

"What, make me a supporter of Overwatch?" Katya snorted again. "Humorous suggestion. You look like Talon agent."

The remark hit a nasty chord in Xiao as she grit her teeth. She kept one eye on the big woman whilst glaring down the businesswoman.

"Have you ever thought about what everyone thinks of you?" Xiao inquired, a small smirk forming on her face.

Katya stopped pacing and turned to face the Huntress. "Go on."

"Anti-Omnic, Russian patriot…" Xiao chuckled. "Working with Omnics, to make weapons? Come on."

The businesswoman stared at Xiao. "So you're working with _her_?"

" _Her._ " Xiao repeated. "Who's _her?_ "

"You know. Zarya, deal with this woman." Katya turned around and walked to another exit of the meeting room, located on the side.

Xiao turned to face the newly identified Zarya, who just barreled right through the conference table and was well on her way to crush her. She dived down to evade a grab from the tank of a human.

Zarya proved to be faster than she looked, quickly readjusting to Xiao drawing her hand cannon and rolling to the right, using the many chairs in the room as cover, then using one of them as a projectile. The Huntress quickly shot the object down and batted away the fragmented pieces.

Zarya used the moment Xiao had her eyes off her and tackled the comparably tiny Huntress to the ground, grabbing her by the collar and landing a couple of hard-hitting punches into her face. She was dazed for a moment.

Xiao shook herself off and pulled out a corrosive smoke bomb, shoving it into the face of her aggressor as she kicked her off, making sure to look away as the device exploded into smoke.

The bigger woman coughed as the smoke covered them both, and quickly backed off. This allowed Xiao to stand back up and change into her armor.

She leapt to the other side of the table in order to flank her opponent with Malfeasance drawn. A few shots of the weapon sounded as she fired into the smoke.

"Don't make me kill you!"

"I would rather die than surrender." Was the cold answer from her right.

How was it possible that this woman can move so quietly? Xiao ducked a hook from Zarya and then kicked her knee, only for her boot to meet what could only be described as steel.

Zarya successfully grabbed Xiao's throat and lifted her up, strangling the Huntress. She struggled to break free of the woman's incredibly strong grip and felt her windpipe being crushed to bits as the hold on her tightened.

Xiao saw white enveloping her vision as she felt the sweet temporary release of death encroaching.

Until a green streak appeared behind Zarya and then a gasp from the massive soldier. The grip on Xiao's throat loosened and she was dropped to the floor.

She gasped and coughed for a good dozen seconds as sweet oxygen made its way into her lungs, and death did not come for her today. Xiao raggedly hacked as her consciousness slowly returned to her.

She felt herself being picked up, but didn't know by who, as her vision hadn't completely restored itself from the mix of stars and black.

A few seconds later Xiao felt the nice cool breeze brush against her, then she was put down.

Her vision came back to her after being so stubborn. She was looking up at white clouds. The surface she was laying on was cold and rock-solid.

"W-what happened?" Xiao said as she sat herself up, panting. She felt her neck being restored to proper condition. "Wha-where are we?"

Mac materialized in front of her. "You nearly got strangled to death by that body builder. Don't worry, she's stable for now, she should survive."

Genji was kneeling to her right, looking down the ledge of the building they were on.

"Genji? Did you do that?" Xiao felt a smile creep up to her face. "Aw, didn't have to."

Genji turned to face her, there was a slight pink mixing with his green accents. "I saw that the fight wasn't going very favorably for you and I acted."

Xiao panted a few more times. "Thanks, but what about Katya?"

"Sombra said she would deal with her."

She frowned. "Better than nothing, I guess." Then flopped to the floor, stretching her arms out. "I could just stay here forever. Nice breeze, perfect temperature, nice guy next to me…"

The pink on Genji's accents were a bit more prominent now.

Xiao giggled like a little girl. "You are so damn adorable."

/

"If it is war you want, Talon is happy to oblige." Edgar paused. "Hm, no, not good enough. It's missing that…"

"It's missing bite to it, you sound like a robot." Crow pulled off his left arm, reaching a finger inside the joint that would connect it to his shoulder. The prosthetic had been making a high-pitched whine recently, which meant that there was something that needed replacement. He sat himself down on the edge of the AC unit, gently placing the arm onto it as his other hand reached for a small case of spare parts that he kept handy just in case. The hard case container snapped open as the Titan carefully balanced it so no pieces escaped.

He picked out a small copper coil, juggling it in between his fingers as he closed the container and stashed it to his inventory.

"You would know…" Edgar muttered. His cloak changed to a dark red and black. "What do you think? Do I look like a terrorist?"

Crow glanced up, the coil in between his teeth. "You look fine." He said, spitting out the piece into his free hand and then popping it in its rightful spot. The prosthetic hummed and a light on it blinked green. "That should do it." He mumbled to himself as he snapped the arm to his shoulder.

Edgar groaned and audibly complained about nothing as he nearly tripped over an unconscious body. "We seriously have to clean these up." The Warlock complained as he kicked the guard aside. "What should I say…oh, what about this. Ghost, can you tune down my voice?"

"My name's Grep by the way, and I think I can, just attach a voice modulator…oh right." Edgar's Ghost, Grep, materialized next to him. "No can do."

"Crap." Edgar sighed, and thought.

"What about you go in, do all the bad guy stuff, and your Ghost says the words for you?" Suggested Crow as the majority Exo Titan moved his left arm around, testing it for any potential functionality issues.

"…How have I not thought of that before?" Edgar groused. "That's a perfect idea."

"Warlocks and overcomplication. I knew that stint at the Library was a bad idea."

"It was enlightening, thank you very much." Edgar snapped back. "Whatever, enough time wasting. I'll go in there, and as soon as my message starts, you come in, and save the day."

Crow did a thumbs up as he watched his Warlock teammate kick in the rooftop door of the Atlas News Network headquarters.

Their mission: Hijack a broadcast from the prominent news outlet, and then have an 'Overwatch' member save the day, hopefully swaying the public opinion, and most importantly, get a public endorsement from celebrated journalist Olympia Shaw.

Hopefully it would all go well. Crow was optimistic that it would.

He pulled up the Atlas News Network online broadcast and watched passively as he played with his prosthetics. His head turned to the door as he heard an alarm ringing from the building, and soon after, gunfire.

Olympia Shaw, who was previously discussing something about Soldier 76 and Jack Morrison being the same person, was forced down by security guards and a firefight ensued in the newsroom. A suited agent shot a few bullets from his pistol, but was quickly put down by a single explosive shot from Edgar's Polaris Lance.

"Guess it's go time, huh buddy?" Crow spoke to his invisible Ghost and hopped off the AC unit. "Let's go bag us a bad guy." He chuckled as he rushed in to 'rescue' the famous journalist slash anchor.

/

Russell crushed his ASD unit and hopped onto the steel frame carrying all the spotlights of the party, wincing as the metal structure groaned under his weight.

" _ **You might want to move quickly, this thing won't hold for long.**_ " Mint said, making Russell accelerate his pace.

The worker on the other side of the balcony unfortunately heard Russell moving but they proved to be no threat, as they went down like a sack of potatoes after getting punched in the face. Russell hopped over and let go of a breath he was holding.

To his left and right were more guards, mostly conversing amongst themselves with the occasional loud laugh.

Russell looked down to the party, scanning the participants and locking his eyes onto a particularly _blue_ woman who conveniently looked up, straight at him.

Their eyes met, the woman squinted then looked surprised, breaking away from the crowd into an area Russell couldn't see.

"Fuck, I think that's a Talon agent…is she Awoken?" Russell muttered as he pulled himself back and crouched down. He shut his eyes and thought of a plan. He looked over the balcony once more, concentrating on his target, then looked at the metal frame that dangled from several thick wires.

 _Maybe I could shoot down the frame and pin the guy down…save his ass afterwards._ Russell decided on that course of action and looked to his left for a guard to find a weapon.

Only to find the guard turned in his direction with his weapon drawn.

His cover's been blown. It was probably that blue woman.

Speaking of which, said woman was grappling from the top of the building and from how her trajectory curved, looked to be readying for a kick to Russell's face.

Russell ducked the kick and grabbed onto the woman's leg.

" _ **Her name's Widowmaker. Infamous Talon assassin.**_ " The two wrestled, with Russell quickly overpowering Widowmaker, but she was faster and slipped out his grip.

The Hunter looked up and saw the guards running closer and drew the Ace of Spades, not hesitating for a second to begin firing.

The hand cannon clanked as a man went down, and with every mechanical bark it made, another Talon goon fell. Russell rushed a soldier, tackling him down before using him as a body shield to protect himself from the guard down the hallway preparing to shoot, making the poor guy hit his friend.

Russell dropped the man and fired towards the other goon, downing him before flinching as the butt of a rifle made contact with the back of his head.

" _ **Minor head trauma. You'll be fine.**_ " Mint giggled afterwards. Russell quickly turned around with his arm raised, intending to grab his aggressor's neck.

Widowmaker blocked the hook by smacking the arm away, following up with a punch of her own into Russell's neck.

" _ **Ouch.**_ " Mint commented.

Russell snarled as he grabbed Widowmaker's leg whilst she was doing some fancy twirling kick and then threw her to the wall. The assassin didn't let up as she kicked off of him and then wrapped her arms around his neck and pushing him downwards, doing a back flip off of him and landing gracefully.

Russell saw the barrel of a rifle pointed straight at his head.

"Leave my Guardian alone!" Came the voice of Mint from above as the Ghost ran into, more like nudged Widowmaker's forehead. The Light construct was batted away.

The time it bought was essential, as Russell grabbed Widowmaker's legs and tripped her, making her drop her weapon and putting her on the floor.

Russell kicked the assault rifle away and grabbed the assassin by the collar, pushing her up against the balcony, slightly tipping her over.

"Hold on a second..." Russell asked. "You have my Whisper!"

"What?" Widowmaker looked confused and then shot some sort of explosive to the ground. The device beeped before a cloud of black smoke covered them both.

The smoke burned Russell's eyes, forcing him to shut them and bat his way out of it. It took a few seconds to clear, and soon after he was able to use his vision, a fist was barreling straight to his face, knocking over to the balcony.

Russell caught himself and held onto the ledge of the dangling metal frame. There was a bellowing groan from the structure as he climbed himself up. Gasps from below could be heard, and sure enough, remarks about the man up top. He backed away from the balcony, making sure to watch his step so he wouldn't fall. He readied his fists and beckoned Widowmaker to come after him.

The assassin took the challenge and gracefully jumped onto the frame too.

Russell grinned as the Ace of Spades materialized in his hand. "You made a grave mistake, _madame_." He idly wondered if he messed up the last word as he shot the assassin's hand that had the grappling hook, before shooting the cables holding the frame up with pinpoint precision.

"You're crazy." Widowmaker remarked out loud as the last cable snapped and the metal structure they were standing on came falling down.

In a way, he reminded himself of Cayde-6.

There was a crash, and then Russell knocked himself out.

 _Thirty seconds later…_

" _ **Dude, wake up!**_ " Russell startled himself as he was brought out of his temporary daze. He found himself sitting on the burning wreck of a metal structure. The entire building was burning, for some reason.

 _Did I set anything on fire?_ Russell wondered to himself.

" _ **I did. Feels great to let loose once in a while.**_ "

"Let me guess, you shorted an exposed wire?" Russell coughed as he shakily stood himself up.

" _ **I shorted all of the exposed wires!**_ " Mint said gleefully. " _ **Cassandra would've never let me do that!**_ "

Russell coughed some more, covering his mouth with his arm and then using it to wave away the smoke.

There was the sound of someone struggling not too far from him, and the voice seemed to match up with his target.

"Somebody 'elp me!" The man had a distinct French accent to him. There was more struggling.

Russell made his way to the source of the voice and kneeled down next to the one and only _Emmanuelle Lebon._ The fatass French UN representative.

"Hey, buddy." Russell said as he waved his hand in front of his target's face. "Do me a favor before I uh…save you from this predicament."

"Whatever you want! Please, I can't feel my hand!" Mister Lebon begged. "Well, do something!"

"You seem to have a…negative position against Overwatch-"

"Yes, yes, I'll vote for them in the upcoming vote!" Russell was surprised by the instant reaction. "Now please, argh, please, do something!"

"You promise you're gonna keep to your word, or am I going to regret saving you?" Russell asked, his voice low and cold.

"I-I promise! Now, help me!"

Russell scooted forward and grabbed a hold of the piece of metal mister Lebon was stuck under and lifted it up, high enough for the man to scoot backwards.

Poor guy lost a hand and a leg.

Russell sighed as he dragged the man to a wall and sat him up. "Now you better remember your promise, good man."

" _ **Keep him stable until EMTs arrive.**_ " Russell asked as he stepped towards where the bar was supposed to be. He licked his lips as he approached the wall of alcohol.

Russell frowned as the nearby sirens interrupted him and he chose to pull out the biggest and most expensive looking bottle he could reach.

" _ **Come on, let's go.**_ " Russell pulled his Ghost back to him and headed out.

. . .

Russell sat on the ledge of an apartment building that had a perfect view of the fire that was currently devouring the party venue. A fire Mint started, which was unexpected from a Ghost who had quite possibly the most formal Guardian of all time. He raised the bottle of alcohol to his lips and took in another sip of the burning liquid. Mint materialized in front of him.

He felt ill.

"Hey, you better watch it with the alcohol, or I'll let you fall of this building." The Ghost said sternly.

"You'll revive me, won'tcha?" Russell said, almost slurring.

"Since when did you drink that stuff?" Mint asked. "I've never seen you drink, like, ever."

"Oh, me, I've…I've, er, been drinking for a long time…" Russell mumbled drunkenly.

"You look like you can barely handle a sip." Mint chuckled. "Now cut it off."

"I can…I'm…fine." Russell slumped to his back, groaning as his head hit the concrete. "Just…give me…a few minutes to rest and…I'll be…dandy."

There was an audible sigh from the Ghost and Russell slowly shut his eyes.

/

 _In a far away place…_

Russell felt a hand rubbing his hair as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked a few times as his mind gathered its thoughts together. He incoherently mumbled something as he looked to the source of the hand that was currently playing with his hair.

"…Cass?" Russell muttered as he looked at the familiar robes of his significant other. "Is…that you?"

" **Oh, it's me Russell…I'll always be here.** " Cassandra said reassuringly as her hand stopped. " **I will always be with you, until the end of time.** "

Russell shut his eyes. Something wasn't right, this couldn't be right.

"No, that's…that's not supposed to-" A finger shushed him.

" **I know…I know…you've declared a war.** " Cassandra sounded grave, she sighed. " **If it's a war you want, then war is what you will get.** "

"… **Do you think I'm not worthy?** " The Warlock asked, sounding hurt. " **…I'll prove myself one day.** "

"…One day."

The world went white.


	17. Tainted Light

"World leaders that are watching this, you have approximately sixty seconds to-" Edgar Malcolm's Ghost was interrupted as Crow burst into the newsroom and instantly shoulder-charged the Warlock, sending him flying over the desk and into the giant screen behind.

Despite being a hero of the Red War, Edgar could _not_ sustain getting shoulder-charged by a Titan nearly one and a half times his height. He fell down and slumped over like a sack of bricks, sparks of Arc energy fizzling out of him.

There was a dying whirr as the power went out.

Perhaps Crow might have gone a _bit_ too far with the strike. He stood in the dark and looked at where Edgar was supposed to have landed, tapping his fingers. Red lights turned on as there was a positive beep. He turned to the camera, then back to the Warlock.

"And stay down!" Crow said, pointing an accusatory finger at his victim.

"Camera's off." Journalist Olympia Shaw said as she peeked over the desk she cowered under just a few minutes ago. "Your response was…quick."

"I've been on his tail for the past few months. Tracking his every move." Crow put his hands on his hips and huffed. "He's not really good at hiding his tracks. Makes a bit of a mess everywhere he goes." He crouched down next to the unconscious body, winking at its Ghost who quietly snickered under a cloak.

"…You don't look like an Overwatch agent." Olympia Shaw remarked. Crow turned around and chuckled.

"I always wanted to be one, and here I am." He stepped closer to the journalist. "Grew up in the same generation as you."

Olympia's cheeks had a tint of red to them. "I've always admired them."

"Past's the past, though. The old guard have to make space for the new. Say…" Crow got closer. "Me and a couple of friends in high places are workin' on a project…"

Olympia stepped back. "If this is what I think it is, you're absolutely crazy."

"What, can't have Overwatch back?"

"Well, no, we can't, Petras act forbids any Overwatch activity." Olympia eyed him suspiciously. "What are you trying to ask of me?"

"Well, I did mention I have some friends in high places…which includes the United Nations. Guy called Jim is spearheading this whole operation-" Crow's Ghost materialized and nudged him in the head. "I shouldn't have gone that far."

"Jim…of course he would do something like this. He's absolutely insane, actually going through with it." Olympia muttered.

"You know him?" Crow cocked his head.

"He's an acquaintance."

"A what now?"

"A close friend." Shaw sheepishly replied.

"Well, get in contact with him. He's gonna need your help, well, all of us will." Crow huffed once more. "For the good of the world."

Olympia sighed in exasperation. "I swear I stick my neck out for him way too often."

There was a groan coming from the caved in monitor.

Crow was quick to silence it with a stomp. "I said stay down!"

/

"Russell…? Hellooo?" Russell groaned as his eyes slowly fluttered open. His sight was obscured by a massive omniscient cloud that seemed to be perpetually hanging over him. A headache sprung as light made its way into his eyes, he immediately shielded them with his arm, resting it on his face. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" The appendage was pulled away as he was forced to take in the sunlight, making his head pound like crazy as white enveloped him.

"Ow, fuck!" Russell exclaimed as he felt an oncoming migraine. "Mint…Jingles, whatever, please get rid of this pain for me…" He mumbled. There was a whoosh and he felt himself being blasted by rays of Light. His mind cleared up after a few seconds.

"Thanks…" Russell muttered as he groggily sat himself up. "…Whoever you are, please go away. I'm in no mood to kill someone right now." He gagged as he felt something rising up his throat, but managed to swallow it down in time.

"What the Hell's all this? Since when did you drink?" The Latino accented voice said from…somewhere, he couldn't tell. "Russell!" The woman said, clearly annoyed.

Russell was tapped in the head. "Mierda, the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"I…had a bit to drink. I'm not good with alcohol…" Russell slurred as he opened his eyes and saw Sombra kneeling in front of him. "As you can tell…"

"Then why the _fuck_ is there an entire two-liter bottle next to you!?" Sombra asked, a hint of concern and frustration in her voice. "Where the fuck did you get this-oh." She looked to the building that Russell had burned down a few hours prior.

Russell groaned as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Man, I feel like shit."

"No time for that, get up." Sombra's hand tugged on Russell's arm as she pulled him standing. "Your other girlfriend…Xiao, is getting pissed that you haven't come back yet."

"Xiao is everything _but_ _my girlfriend._ " Russell corrected.

"Whatever, here, Amélie handed this to me, and wanted me to pass it along to you." Sombra tossed him the _Whisper of the Worm_ , which dematerialized midair. "Now come on, let's not get keep Xiao waiting any longer than she already has."

Russell left the liquor bottle behind, giving it one last longing look as his ship pulled in to pick him up.

"Mint, I want everything you have on the Books of Sorrow and Dredgen Yor, more specifically, his gun. Oh, and if you have it, bring up anything about Toland."

" _ **Why do you want to know about Thorn? What's so interesting about The Shattered one?**_ " Mint inquired, but quickly brought up the demanded materials.

"Shut up." Russell replied as he began his dive into the library of Hive lore, starting with the first few verses.

" _ **Well, sorry for asking.**_ " Mint sarcastically replied.

Russell opened a comms link to Xiao.

"Where the fuck have you been-" The Huntress' fiery voice didn't shake Russell. Not this time.

"Not now, is the portal back to our reality still open?" Russell asked, flipping to the next verse of the Books of Sorrow.

"It closes in a few days, have to wait three weeks until it opens again. Why?"

"I'll be gone for three weeks then."

"What are you trying to do? Dulk?"

"Send me the coordinates to the portal." Russell flatly stated, he had switched his interest into the Deathsinger.

He had a sudden her to sing. Not to anyone of course, but to Cassandra. Maybe she would reciprocate, and one day, they could sing together.

One day.

. . .

 _European Dead Zone, Earth_

Russell had tracked the movements of the Renegade, the one with the Golden Gun. The one who always had the Last Word. Scourge of the Shadows of Yor and a Guardian that took justice into his own hands.

The man had passed through a Fallen transponder in the salt mines, and to a hidden away camp. There was a pile of ashes in front of a slumped over deceased Warlock. Russell went to his knees and patted through the thick heap, feeling for anything that could be of use to his quest.

Russell's hand felt something that felt like the grip of a hand cannon, his grin was irrepressible as he pulled out the melted husk of a weapon. Although it barely resembled like the gun he was looking for, but it was a start.

Russell's fingers wrapped around the grip of the weapon, and he blew away some ash that haphazardly covered the hand cannon. He smiled as he quickly stashed the hunk of metal that vaguely looked like a hand cannon.

He had to get this to a gunsmith. Someone skilled enough to restore something as damaged as this to its original state. Something powerful enough not only to kill a Guardian, but kill one for good.

His mind raced with options, should he take it to that shady dealer in the Botza district? What about anyone at the Farm? No, those guys were too incompetent for a project like this. There was only one guy, well, Exo, that knew what to do with this. Hopefully he was forgetful enough to not mention this to anyone.

God knows how scared Russell was of Ikora's big-ass shotgun, and her abilities in general. He did hear that she could pull off two Nova Bombs in short succession and was rumored to have used Lord Shaxx's missing helmet horn in a place that made it difficult for the Crucible handler to sit without pain (which was coincidentally why the man always stood). He shuddered at the thought of where it could have gone.

Russell shrugged as he calmed himself down. Banshee-44 would definitely not remember, he forgot about Cayde's death! The Hunter rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck as he took himself to orbit.

" _ **Are you sure this is a good idea?**_ " Mint asked.

"… _ **Maybe.**_ " Russell replied.

. . .

 _The Tower, Earth_

Russell kept his hood on, although it was recognizable enough to anyone who was familiar with him. Hopefully nobody that knew him was there, hopefully they forgot about him. He kept a second eye wandering for any potential interlopers.

Russell took the melted hunk of metal, keeping it parallel with the underside of his arm as he walked up to the Tower's gunsmith, Banshee-44.

"…What do you need?" Banshee didn't turn around, instead opting to continue working on some sort of rifle. Russell placed the melted hand cannon onto the desk, letting it drop so the Exo would definitely hear it being placed.

Banshee turned around and looked inquisitively at the weapon. The gunsmith was quiet for a while. "Say, I don't mind lookin' at this for you, but I'm gonna have to tell Ikora about it, all right?"

Russell nodded. The gunsmith picked up the deformed hand cannon and closely inspected it. "You might as well throw this away and start from scratch," Banshee mumbled. "But…if you're really determined…" He puts down the weapon and hands it back to Russell, then turning around to pick up a data pad and typing something up, returning with a piece of paper a few seconds later.

" _ **Paper, huh.**_ " Russell commented.

" _ **Old fashioned guy.**_ " Mint quipped.

Russell took the detailed shopping list and the melted weapon with him.

All of them he could get by killing other Guardians in the Crucible and pillaging the components needed from them.

First up, Hadronic Essence. He could get this by killing Warlocks.

Russell sighed as he realized what he got himself into. He found the gun, and he had a special Guardian to kill. He made his way to Lord Shaxx.

. . .

Upon starting the Crucible match, Russell checked the list of Guardians that were participating. Luckily, there were a few Warlocks on the other team. He could just target them and get this part over with. Maybe kill some Titans and Hunters to get advanced on the other materials.

Russell relaxed in his ship's seat as he relaxed himself, and mentally prepared for the shit storm that was the Crucible.

"Well look who finally decides to show up!" A snotty voice said over local comms. It had that condescending tone that grated on Russell. "Where have you been, Dulk? Been a while since I saw you."

"I am very lucky you're not on my team, Jason."

"Wrong."

"Shut the fuck up, both of you!" An annoyed participant said to the both of them.

Russell decided to listen and shut off his link, resting his head as he wondered how Shaxx handled these people.

. . .

 _Midtown, Earth_

Russell fought, fueled by pure hatred for the enemy team as he ruthlessly went after the Warlocks on the enemy team. He felt the satisfying crunch of his knife piercing through a man's neck, relishing the moment for a few seconds before pushing the corpse off of his bloody blade.

Another Warlock, more Hadronic Essence for himself, good.

"Maybe you should go after a different type of Guardian?" Shaxx suggested. "You seem to have something against Warlocks!"

Russell ignored the Crucible handler's advice and pursued for more kills. He twirled the Ace of Spades in his hands as he fired a few shots towards a Titan who was in his way. He felt himself being marked as that Titan wore the One-Eyed Mask, or a knock-off version of it; the time he would be marked for would tell him that. Grumbling to himself, he slid into cover, evading a burst from the enemy's Blast Furnace.

Russell felt his Golden Gun ready as he reached into the air, and was engulfed in flames as he quickly put down the Titan rushing him and then chasing after whatever appeared on his radar. He smelt the burn as he put down another Warlock and saw the notification of more Hadronic Essence being added to his inventory.

It would be a long few weeks in the Crucible. Russell grinned as he killed another fellow Guardian.

/

 _Ascendant Realm_

Cassandra Messer sat on her throne, bored as she watched over her subjects, infecting the world and laughing to herself as she saw the failed attempts to strike back. She yawned as she flicked to her personal feed of Russell, the one she longed for.

What was he doing in the Crucible? Cassandra wondered as she saw him fight with the fury of a million Cabal, especially directed towards Warlocks. She pondered the possibility that that was because of her, giggling afterwards.

Oh, how petulant he was, taking out his anger on fellow comrades. Cassandra never understood the point of Crucible, it was essentially a game show where Guardians just beat each other over the head, how would that prepare them against the Darkness? More questions flowed through her mind as she yawned, then a certain hand cannon caught her attention.

What was that piece of metal vaguely resembling a weapon doing in his possession?

Cassandra watched with closer attention as Russell did work on it. Was he restoring it? Since when did he have an interest in fixing guns? She hummed to herself as she sat back and observed her precious Hunter infuse the piece of metal with a lot of Hadronic Essence.

"What do you think? This look like a Guardian killer to you?" Russell asked no one in particular as he inspected the weapon, feeling it in his hand. The weapon looked oddly familiar to Cassandra. She cast away the thoughts as she watched the Hunter hide away the weapon when a fellow Guardian came to the workshop he was in.

"What could he possibly be working on?" Cassandra pondered out loud as she rested her cheek on her fist. Perhaps Mint would be of use for once, and the Ghost could tell her, but that would alert Russell to her presence in his mind.

The process of making him hers would be slow and most likely infuriating, but it would surely be worth it. He was the perfect man for her, the positive to her negative.

/

 _Two weeks of infuriating Crucible later…_

Russell Dulk crawled out of the Crucible tired, beaten, and incredibly salty. He remembered why he avoided the damn event like the plague now: It was just a bunch of people running around with shotguns running into each other like apes.

He looked at his charged _Thorn_. It was missing one final thing.

Hive energy.

Russell grinned as he landed in the Farm. He kept the weapon hidden as he walked towards the ignored Cryptarch.

They exchanged simple greetings, and Russell showed her his project.

Tyra Karn was not at all pleased that she had involved herself in this. "Russell, it's been a long time since we've talked. I won't lecture you," She paused for a quick second. "But I do hope that you know exactly what sort of misdirected selfishness and reprehensible cruelty this gun represents."

Russell waved her off. "It's for good reasons."

The Cryptarch scoffed. "Of course, it is." Then sighed. "That said, the provenance of the original Thorn has been vigorously debated. We have incomplete texts which speak of a so-called 'hated path.' One must 'bathe their Lights in horrors,' one must 'feed the weapon with death,' one must maintain their Light while 'binding a sickness' to the weapon itself…Hive heresy, all of it. I advise you speak to Ikora about this if you have further questions."

Horrors, death, sickness…that sounded a lot like the Hive burrows on Titan.

He would have to talk to Sloane about this.

Russell would enter the Chasm of Screams, and he was determined to not leave without his new weapon.

/

 _Weeks later…_

"Xiao, this is Russell. I'm back." Russell's voice was…different. Flatter, monotone, it didn't spark with that coyness the Hunter usually proudly displayed. Xiao didn't question it though, if he was actually serious for once, maybe things wouldn't go wrong for anyone.

"Roger that, meet you topside." Xiao replied, huffing afterwards. She made her way to the landing pad of Watchpoint Gibraltar. Russell's ship pulled into landing and touched down as quietly as it came in. The cockpit popped open and he hopped out, kicking up dust underneath his feet.

Russell's helmet disappeared from his face. He looked like utter trash. "Good to see you." He said.

"You look horrible." Xiao put a hand on her hip, squinting as she visually scanned him. "When was the last time you've slept?"

"Don't worry about it." Russell waved her off. "I've been working on a project."

"A project, huh?" Xiao snorted. "What is it this time? Giant flame turrets?"

The look he gave her indicated that it was much more serious than that. "…I'll ask you later."

"If you need me, I'll be in my room." Russell shoved past Xiao.

When he was far enough, she let go a breath she wasn't aware that she was holding. Something about him was…wrong.

Xiao had dabbled with the Darkness before, but it felt like he had jumped into a pool with it.

She watched him turn a corner and disappear.

. . .

Xiao had kept a close eye on Russell since he came back. She heard…chants, coming from his room. It was low enough so that a normal ear wouldn't perceive, but loud enough for hers to understand clearly. She didn't recognize any tangible words in his chants, and they had a dark feeling to them, even though nothing could be identified.

The chanting stopped and something shattered in Russell's room. Xiao gulped and knocked on the door.

It had been a while since she was as anxious as this.

There was scrambling coming from within. Then the sounds of retching.

"Russell…? You okay in there?" Xiao asked, her voice laced with concern.

There was no response.

" _ **Is the door locked?**_ " Xiao asked her Ghost.

" _ **No.**_ " The entrance opened itself.

Xiao tentatively stepped in.

The room looked…decent enough, at least to Hunter standards. It was a bit messy, but was easy enough to navigate through. On the coffee table in the middle was a bottle of some sort liquor that looked to be from the Last City, beside that a glass. On the floor next to it were shattered glass fragments and a discarded data pad.

Xiao picked up the device and read the letters displayed on it. It seemed to be some sort of ritualistic song that had no discernable words to them, just how it was supposed to be pronounced. She hummed the chant to herself and couldn't recognize it. She scrolled up to look at the title.

 _The Song if Ir Yût, the Deathsinger._

Xiao's eyes widened as she realized what Russell was trying to accomplish, and she got a bit angry about it. Of course she would get angry when one of her subordinates was learning some sort of demented Hive song! She stepped to the door of the washroom and banged on it with her fist.

"Russell!"

There was a low moan from inside.

" _ **Mac, open this door, right now.**_ " The door slid open, revealing Russell slumped over a toilet full of vomit.

"So, now you know what I've been trying to do? Isn't the song just beautiful?" Russell slurred as he gagged into the toilet. "I promise, it's gonna keep Cassandra locked away forever and ever…and ever."

"Russell, you're absolutely insane right now." Xiao grabbed Russell's shoulders and pushed him towards a wall. His face was twisted.

Russell pushed back. "Get the fuck away from me!" He exclaimed. "Do-Don't get any closer!" He shakily stood up, leaning on the sink for support.

"You're being a fool right now, Russell!"

"I'm-I'm not! It's gonna work! I swear!" Russell said. "Just let me…try!"

"No, I'm not going to let you try some Hive ritual!"

Russell drew a horrifying weapon from his holster.

Xiao stepped back and raised her hands. "Where…where did you get that?" She stared at _Thorn._ The aura it emanated was oppressive, and it felt like a million souls were reaching out to her, begging to be freed.

"Fixed it up myself, pretty cool, right?" Russell chuckled. "I'm gonna bait her out with a song, give her a rose, and boom! Thorn!" He laughed hysterically.

"That thing puts down Guardians, it corrupts them, Russell. Put it down and burn it!" Xiao pleaded.

"No! I had to kill…oh how many…uh, four…hundred Guardians in the Crucible for this! You know just how many shotgun apes I had to die to?" Russell gulped. "Thank the fucking Traveler that I had a Kindled Orchid, though Ada was kind of a bitch."

"Holy shit."

"Is everything alright over here?" Titan Crow's voice was a relief to her, maybe he could snap Russell out of his daze.

"No! Get in here!" Xiao turned to Crow and pointed with one finger at Russell.

"What's up with him?" Crow asked peppily, he walked behind Xiao and looked to Russell. "Ooh. That's...that's a problem." He said after noticing the Thorn in the Hunter's hand.

"Stand aside." Crow said, almost gravely. Xiao listened, at least it wasn't her problem anymore.

"Mint, why don't you…talk some sense into him?"

Russell's new Ghost, Mint, materialized in front of Crow. He turned his weapon on it.

There was an explosion of tainted Light moments after.


	18. Consequences

"Whoa! What happened!?" Jingles asked as the _actual_ Ghost shook himself off. The light Light frantically turned both ways, his single photoreceptor squinting in and out frequently. "Why does it feel like my head was shuffled around and someone took a huge du-"

"Enough." Xiao cupped the Ghost in her palm. "Please, control your Guardian." She said softly, which was unlike her.

Crow stood behind, ready to strike.

Jingles turned to Russell. "What happened to-where did you get that!?" The Ghost hid itself behind Xiao. "Does he know what he's holding!?" The construct whispered.

"I'm afraid he does." Xiao murmured back. "Russell, just calm down for a second there."

The Hunter had a dazed look to his face, like he wasn't focusing on anything at all. The arm with the weapon loosened up and eventually fell to his side.

"Oh I feel like shit…" Russell muttered as he gagged once more. Xiao shielded herself as a reflex, can't have vomit go all over her, that wouldn't be fun.

Crow stepped in and grabbed the hand cannon, eliciting a reaction from Russell as he wildly shot the very dangerous weapon in every direction possible. Xiao quickly took cover to the side of the door frame and flinched as a round pinged alarmingly close to her head.

There was a yelp of pain soon after, then some scuffling as two people tumbled to the ground.

"Give…the fucking gun!" Crow said through gritted teeth as he wrestled with Russell for Thorn. There was the sound of a debilitating punch and someone slumped over.

Crow emerged victorious with the infamous Hand cannon in his hand. He immediately tossed it to Xiao, who almost dropped it.

"He's gonna have a huge hangover when he wakes up." The Titan said, dusting his mechanical shoulders off. "Jingles, whatever you do, don't give him any Light to fix it up. I'll stick around in case he tries to start anymore trouble."

Jingles peeked over Xiao's shoulder and shamefully nodded. The Ghost flew over to Russell's unconscious body and sighed.

"What have you done?"

/

Titan Crow leaned against the corner of Russell's bedroom, keeping a watchful eye over him as he slept like a baby. There were mumbles coming from the Hunter but they were too low to understand.

Jingles casually floated around, also keeping a constant watch over his Guardian who seemed to have gone insane. He floated downstairs and scanned something.

"What!? Is he insane!?" Jingles screamed from a distance away. "He's learning Hive ritual chants!?"

Crow shrugged. "Ask him when he wakes up."

"Oh, yeah I'll give him a piece of my mind!" Jingles said, frustration in his voice. The Ghost turned to Russell. "What are you thinking!?"

"He's not thinking. It looks like he's been on a constant stream of alcohol like the Fallen with their Ether." Crow commented, exhaling through his nose afterwards.

Jingles analyzed Russell for a second. "By the Traveler." He said, shock apparent in his voice.

Crow put on the One-Eyed Mask as he noticed a twitch from the Hunter's finger. In fact, Russell started saying something in his sleep, which soon enough devolved to screaming.

"G-Get away!" Russell clutched onto his pillow with a death grip as he continued experiencing his nightmare. There was a sharp scream and he sat up straight and immediately reached for Thorn, which was placed on his nightstand. Crow was fast and grabbed his hand before he could hold it.

"Knew you were gonna go for it." Crow muttered as he forcefully moved the arm away from the hand cannon, and back onto Russell's body. "Keep that hand there. You're alright."

"She's after me. She's after me!" Russell frantically said as he once more attempted to grab Thorn. Crow stopped him before his hand even left his body. "That gun is the only thing stopping her from taking me and running off, now give it!"

"Slow down there." Crow said as he pushed the Hunter onto his back. "Are you talking about Cassandra?"

"Who else would I be talking about!?" Russell replied, trembling from head to toe. His breaths were short too.

"Are you sure it isn't just a nightmare?" Crow inquired, giving a quick glance to Jingles who was floating above his head. "You're overreacting."

"I am not!" Russell tried moving but the Titan's strength proved too strong for a Hunter such as him.

"Russell, you're having a panic attack." Jingles said. "I'll get the doctor in for you."

"I'm fine! Just-just hand me my gun! I built it!" Russell looked at Thorn. "She's gonna show up any second now!"

There was a knock at the door. "That's-That's her!" Russell said, panic in his voice.

"Calm down, it's Doctor Ziegler." Jingles said.

"Door's open!" Crow called out. There was the sound of the door sliding open, then closed. The clicking of heels sounded and only got louder as the doctor approached.

The blonde-haired Angela Ziegler stepped in with a data pad, and she looked grave. "What is the issue?" She looked towards Russell.

"He's-er, having some trouble with, keeping his sanity in check." Angela kept a professional look as she visually scanned Russell from head-to-toe.

"Russell, I need you to breathe. Deep breaths." The doctor said as she replicated her directives. Russell looked to have understood but was having trouble with following. Angela walked closer to him and kneeled down. "Give me his hand."

Crow let go of the hand closest to them, and Angela grasped it firmly. "Calm. It will only do you good if you breathe."

The Titan noticed that there was a sort of peaceful aura that surrounded the doctor, it shone positively within the dark atmosphere that emanated from this entire room, like a lantern in a dark cave. It seemed to be working as Russell started calming down and stopped trembling like a scared dog.

"Very good, now, once you're ready, tell me what's making you scared." Angela calmly asked, flashing a soft smile.

It took a few minutes of eye contact between her and Russell for him to even begin talking.

"I'm seeing…things. Scary things." Russell said, a downcast look on his eyes. Crow frowned underneath his One-Eyed Mask, knowing that he was being intentionally vague. It wasn't really his fault, it was just a tendency with Hunter Guardians.

On top of avoiding the Tower, as of recent.

"You should take your mask off." Jingles whispered, the casque disappeared soon after.

"You don't have to be scared around me, Russell. What are these scary things you see?" Angela squeezed on Russell's hand.

"It's…a being. A being so powerful that…I can't describe. It's after me, Ziegler, and it won't stop until it's finished." Russell was paler than he normally was, and he started trembling once more. "Oh God, I think I see it again."

"Calm, calm. I need you to be strong, for me. For your contraption here." Angela glanced to Jingles and gave him a smile. A faint pink shade could be seen in the Ghost's photoreceptor. "If you're not ready to talk to anyone about it, that's perfectly fine."

"He's uh…hungover, too." Crow muttered.

"That…might explain some things. Perhaps we should discuss this further when he is sober?" Angela asked, turning to Crow, as if he were Russell's parent.

"Yeah…I think that would be good." Crow muttered back, scratching the back of his head. "I think he's okay now."

Angela stood up and smiled. "Good."

The room vacated save for Russell and Jingles.

Crow had forgotten to take away Thorn from reach.

Russell immediately went to grab it, missing by a few microseconds as Jingles dematerialized it before his fingers could grab it. "Oh no you don't."

"Come on, just give it to me."

"No. I'm gone for a few weeks and you've built a Weapon of Sorrow and learning about Hive death rituals!?" Jingles snapped. "Did you hit yourself over the head or something!?"

"Well-" Jingles turned away for a second.

"No excuses!" Then snapped back to his Guardian. "You deserve _everything_ that's just been thrown at you. And since when were you able to sustain a Blood Alcohol Content of zero point four!?"

"I've been-"

"I _don't_ want to hear it!" Russell reached out an arm to his Ghost. "Don't you even dare ask for me to cure your hangover!"

"Can you stop screaming?" The Hunter quietly asked.

"Was I screaming?" Jingles asked.

"Yeah."

There were some knocks at the door. Jingles quickly zipped down to greet whoever was there. The door slid open, revealing Tracer in casual clothing, standing with her hands in her pockets. She jumped upon seeing the Ghost.

"Oh! Uh, is Russell there?" Jingles shook his body vertically. "Um, you mind tellin' him to keep it down, luv? Thanks." Lena politely asked.

"Yeah, sorry." Jingles said apologetically. Lena then zipped away, the door closing soon after.

Jingles quickly floated back to Russell, who was trying to stand himself up.

"Go ahead, I dare you." The cuboid construct coldly said.

"I'll…fuckin' take it!" Russell replied, burping mid-way. He managed to put his feet to the floor and tried using them to stand, only to collapse downwards upon trying.

By the Traveler this was the most miserable state Jingles had seen his Guardian in.

"Okay…I'm sorry for doubting you…" Russell mumbled, resting his head on his arm and speaking to the ground. His other hand reached up to massage a temple.

"You'll be stuck there for a while. I'm not helping you."

"Come on, please?"

"Nope."

Russell groaned as he stayed in his pitiful spot.

. . .

It took a few hours for him to manage to stand, another half-hour to be able to walk properly, and an extra fifteen minutes to be able to hobble down the stairs. Russell collapsed onto the couch with a mind splitting headache and the sun that was shining directly into his eyes was not helping. His hands reached up to massage his temples.

"If you're not gonna give me any Light…could you transmat some water at least? Fuck…" Russell muttered, groaning afterwards.

A water bottle materialized on the coffee table. In a fellow agent's room, something went missing.

"Thanks." Russell mumbled as one hand reached for the container but he couldn't find the willpower to actually open it, so it sat there unopened, taunting him for his current predicament. He groaned some more and placed his palm on his forehead. "Is this what it's like, being trash?" He asked, to no one in particular.

Jingles stayed quiet and kept a watchful eye over his Guardian. He floated around aimlessly, waiting for Russell to try something.

There was a quiet knock at the door, followed by it opening.

Jingles buzzed over to meet whoever opened it.

"What's the point of knocking if you're just gonna open it yourself?" The Ghost asked Sombra, who 'tched' at the construct.

"Come on, can't I just see a friend without getting talked down to?" She said sarcastically, pushing away the Ghost as he floated in front of her.

"He's uh, kind of moody right now."

"Am not!" Russell cried out from the couch. "I'm perfectly-" There was a hiccup.

"I'm fine! I can go out, do my thing, come back and none of you will notice a damn thing!"

Sombra rolled her eyes. "You burned an entire party venue down going after a single guy."

"That was not me! It was the other Ghost!"

Jingles paused, and slowly turned to Russell. "What 'other' Ghost?"

"We'll talk about that later!" The Light construct grumbled at the response and rested itself on the coffee table next to the couch.

Russell folded his feet to make some space for Sombra. She didn't take it, instead pushing him down from his head to make room there. The hacker sat down and patted her lap.

"No." Russell said.

"Come on, you're hungover, chill out. It does good." Sombra replied. "It works on Gabe, and you don't even know how much of an edge lord he became."

"Gabe…gabe…Gabriel? Reyes?" Russell inquired. "That one?"

Sombra laughed. "Yeah, that one."

Russell hiccupped once more. "By the Traveler. That's…breaking a few laws of physics or something." He said, slurring into his couch seat as he still refused to rest his head on Sombra's thighs, for fear of getting strangled or something.

Jingles was about to comment something about his thought, but realized that it would probably make his condition even worse.

"It's been a while since I've seen him this depressed. About as salty as that time when-" Jingles commented, barely lifting a few edges of his frame as it lightly vibrated the table underneath him. He was suddenly grabbed by his Guardian and squeezed with the force of a thousand Cabal legionaries.

Well, it would've been if Russell had put any strength into his grip, which gradually loosened and let his Ghost go. "Oh, what's the point? I can't do anything." He mumbled to himself.

Sombra quietly giggled. "Go on…" She looked to Russell. "What's his name?" She whispered.

"My name is Jingles, anyways…" Sombra slowly nodded. "He was just one match away from acquiring a Luna's Howl-"

"A what now?"

"It's a hand cannon a lot of people want."

"Okay, go ahead."

"He was just one Crucible match away from ranking up to Fabled rank to get it from Shaxx, and it was only a few minutes until the season ended." Jingles continued.

"What are you talking about?" Sombra asked, looking a bit confused.

"Crucible is where Guardians like him beat each other over the head until one side wins." The Ghost paused. "Anyways, he barely lost that game, because apparently even though Shaxx called it, the enemy team could still score points."

"It's fucking bullshit! The game was done, and then all of a sudden we lose by two points! How does that make sense!?" Russell screamed into his cushion. "I also got the Recluse already..." He sobbed.

"He hasn't gone for the gun since."

Sombra chuckled as her hand found its way into Russell's hair. She lightly massaged it, feeling his hair as her nails scratched his head with every pass. "Better luck next time." She chortled afterwards.

Russell only curled up into a fetal positioned and groaned. "Sombra, could you _please_ ask Jingles to _kindly_ help his friend out?" He asked

Sombra looked at Jingles expectantly.

The construct shook his head. "Nope." He curtly said and turned away from the two of them.

Sombra sighed and had a small smile on her face.

/

She enjoyed this quiet time with Russell. Although his complaints reminded her a _bit_ too much of Gabriel after a night's worth of drinking, but the aura around him was definitely lighter and didn't make her as depressed.

Sombra ruffled his hair as she patted her lap with her other hand, in another attempt to get him on.

She found him oddly adorable, despite his tendency to leave everything in his path in flames, whilst being very loud about it, which went directly opposite to what she stood for.

The two of them, plus Russell's contraption sat around peacefully, enjoying each other's presence.

He started snoring, which cut the silence.

Sombra frowned that he hadn't jumped up when he was awake. Guess he wasn't into her that much.

Ah well, such was life.

The hacker looked to the sleeping Russell, then stood up, stretching her arms out as she yawned. Her attention was turned to the baseball sized device that was resting on the coffee table. She kneeled down, eye-level with it as she visually scanned it.

Sombra's hands couldn't resist and as slowly as she could, approached it so she could hold it.

Once her finger touched its shell, it suddenly rose to life.

"What are you doing?" Jingles asked as he floated up.

"Just wanted to check you out." Sombra stood, looking at him vigilantly as his single eye regarded her with the same gaze.

"You've tried that…five times since you came into this room." Jingles said. "You've gotten more clever with every attempt, but it won't work."

Damn, he was good. Sombra put a hand on her hip. "Smart one, hm?"

"Smarter than anyone in this base." Jingles said, then 'hmphed'. "And you're a pretty smart woman, Sombra."

Sombra's cheeks reddened slightly. "Aw, thanks." She said.

"Russell will be here for a while. I'm just watching him in case he has nightmares. He's been having them more frequently since Cassandra came out as _the_ Taken Queen." Jingles sighed and looked somberly at Russell, as indicated with the movement of the pieces of his black and blue frame. "And apparently I wasn't his Ghost for a few weeks?"

Sombra shrugged. "Dunno, he disappeared for a few weeks and now he's here, hungover and miserable. I really want to do something about it, but he'd probably attack me, and as you know, I _can't_ be revived." She dryly laughed.

"How do you know that he can be revived?" Jingles asked.

"What's her name…the angry woman. Xiao." Sombra put a finger on her chin. "Yeah, I think that's her name?"

"She would expose that information?"

"Apparently so."

Their attention was caught by Russell mumbling.

/

Russell woke up with the side of his head on someone's lap. A warm hand was massaging his scalp and a woman was humming a beautiful melody just above him.

His eyes perceived...blankness _._ There wasn't any white nor black, just _blank_. It felt like he was looking at what a blind person would see, that being...nothing. An endless void that was equally comforting and frightening. He turned his head and saw Cassandra's beautiful smile shining down onto him.

Something was wrong…he wasn't supposed to feel like this. She was the enemy, and he still had feelings for her? Why?

"Hello Russell." Cassandra said. It sounded like there was a second voice repeating the exact same thing at the exact same time she spoke. "How are you?" Her hand softly cupped his chin.

Russell couldn't find the strength to speak. Cassandra softly exhaled and shut her eyes for a few seconds.

"Are you scared?" She asked, snaking her way down from his head to his chest, it stayed there. It felt like she was pinning him down, but he couldn't feel anything on him. "…It's okay. All I want to hear is your voice."

"Please." Her voice sounded sorrowful. She had a sad smile on her face. "I just want to listen to you speak. I just want everything to be like normal again." Tears welled up in her eyes.

Russell blinked a few times, then he wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her close. "I'm sorry it has to be this way." He whispered.

Cassandra hugged him tighter. "It doesn't."

"It doesn't!" She cried into his shoulder. "I can find a solution! I always do!"

Russell sighed as he patted her back. "I'm sorry I have to do this."

He felt a hand cannon materializing on his thigh. His free hand reached for it and clutched the grip.

Russell slid the weapon out of the holster and gently pressed it to Cassandra's stomach. "I'm sorry." He could feel tears forming in his eyes.

Cassandra held him by the sides of his head, and smashed her lips against his. She pushed Russell down and he suddenly lost all force of will to shoot her.

Thorn fell to the side, just within reach. He reached for it, Cassandra pinned his hand down. She broke free of the kiss.

"Please, one last…" She whispered.

Russell felt incapable of resisting. He fell to her clutches.

A many-eyed beast laughed in the sky. " **You just have to wish for it.** " It said distantly, barely audible enough to hear.

* * *

 **For Every Rose, a Thorn: Revelations and Invitations**

 **Damn. What a plot twist.**


	19. Spirit

Russell awoke to darkness. A darkness that was unlike the night, where it was peaceful and quiet.

No, this darkness was discordant and loud, it sounded like the screams of millions of voices, all begging for the same thing, yet they all mangled together to form some incoherent orchestra.

Russell found himself laying on a cold stone surface. His eyes could see massive pieces of rocks passing by on top of him as the howling wind blew it to the side. Once the fragments disappeared, a Vex mind levitated, looking curiously at the Hunter. It slowly approached, taking great care to not make any noise, as it probably thought the center of its interest was still asleep.

Russell watched in get closer and closer, examining him with a curious white eye as one of its massive arms approached him, and a gentle finger lifted him up. He blinked as it looked back at the Vex mind, confused as to what it was doing.

"Entity is…perplexing." The Axis Mind said. "Simulation…impossible."

Russell's hands found stability on the Vex's finger. "What…are you?"

The being twitched and dropped him. He caught himself just in time and broke the fall with a double jump. "Asshole." He muttered.

The Vex Mind looked…afraid, for some reason.

A warp sounded behind Russell, followed by soft footsteps.

"I told you to keep your machine under control." Cassandra's familiar voice said behind him. She sounded annoyed. Another warp presented itself.

"…Sorry." Another voice said, this one unrecognizable. It spoke with such cunning that it was practically impossible to determine if the apology was genuine or not. "Quria, come. We must leave them."

The Axis Mind nodded by tilting its body forward before disappearing.

"Tsk, Oryx's sister and her Vex pet." Cassandra sighed. "I'm so happy to see you." She smiled.

She was…different. It was impossible to identify what, as she _looked_ fine, but something about her changed. Russell couldn't find words to reply to her.

"Did you know that Quria can Take now?" Cassandra asked. Russell shook his head. She laughed, then sighed. "I took a great amount of power, in pursuit of being with you." She said, almost dreamily.

"We can be together, finally. You're here, and there's no chance of those pesky Guardians interfering." She exhaled, and reached her arms out for a hug. "Come be my king, hm?"

Russell wasn't sure what to answer with. "I…don't follow." He sheepishly replied, looking down at his feet. He opted not to hug yet.

"Just…stick with me, and everything will be fine." Cassandra brightly smiled and tilted her head as she wrapped an arm around Russell's back.

"Now I just have to deal with your physical manifestation…" She quietly muttered to herself.

Russell perked up. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Follow me." Cassandra opened a dark portal and stepped half-way through, looking back to beckon Russell to follow.

He was hesitant to step in, but ate his fear and went through anyways.

His eyes set upon a small wooden home in the middle of a lush green forest. There was a chirping somewhere in the distance and Russell could feel a critter on his boot. He looked to his palm and then around himself as he took in the scenery. He felt himself drifting away into non-thoughts as a feeling of relaxation overcame him, only interrupted by a soft hand placing itself on his shoulder, softly squeezing.

Russell looked to his side, to see Cassandra with a sly smirk on her face and joy dancing in her eyes. Her pupils shone extra brightly and seemed to sparkle. She wordlessly dragged her hand down to his and started moving towards the house, gently pulling him along.

A force coaxed him to not resist as his feet moved on their own.

In the back of his mind, he felt something was wrong, but euphoria was taking him over, and he felt something ignite in his heart as he saw his wonderful Cassandra turn to face him again.

/

 _Watchpoint Gibraltar_

Russell wordlessly smiled as he raised a plastic cup, to meet everyone else's as they all celebrated the reformation of Overwatch. There were cheers all around and the general atmosphere seemed to be light. Hell, even Xiao looked pleased, which was a pretty rare sight to anyone who knew her. Crow was busy mingling with the crowd while Edgar sulked in a corner, like all Warlocks at a party.

Russell absent-mindedly wondered how those guys weren't the outcasts of the Tower, instead of the Hunters. Probably because the latter rarely, if ever, showed up. He blinked and turned his attention to the rest of the people attending, sighing as he took a sip of his drink, which he couldn't quite get the taste of. It felt blank, like he was just downing water that had a light kick to it.

He saw McCree give a grin in his direction and he awkwardly smiled back, doing a small wave as the cowboy passed by.

Russell couldn't stand this. He found no joy here. His smiles were fake and empty, and his mind was clouded, he needed some air. A voice was speaking in the back of his head, which only got louder as the party got quieter behind him. It was speaking in a language he couldn't understand, and probably had no hope of ever comprehending.

Russell's left hand propped him against a wall as he leaned towards it, sighing as he looked towards the empty horizon. The subtle sounds of nature were overpowered by the pulsating music in the background. It didn't help that the thing that was fogging up his mind wouldn't clear and felt like it was going to be with him forever, teasing him.

Russell groaned in frustration as he slapped the metal wall, slumping down on it as he dug his face into his legs. The voice in his mind was louder now, and it never ceased to quiet down. It sounded like it was…singing.

He tried his damned best to ignore it, but there was no point, it took over his thoughts and the more he tried to not pay attention to it, the more prevalent it was.

"Jingles, please, just talk to me about anything, please." Russell muttered one hand gripped the side of his head, in a desperate attempt to silence the voice.

There was a whoosh in front of him. "I'm here, Russell. Look at me." Jingles nudged his head, asking him to look up. He did. "Good. I'll open up the firing range if you want to blow off some steam."

Russell was offended that his Ghost didn't want to talk to him. "Might as well." He said and pushed himself up. His feet were abnormally wobbly and it took longer than usual for him to be stable.

He shut his eyes and sighed.

. . .

Everything looked dull. He could barely tell the enemies from the civilians apart, they just all blended into this monochromatic color. It looked like he was looking through a filter that took out all the color in life.

Russell screamed in frustration as he realized he hit another civilian. He threw down Thorn in anger and slammed onto the table, leaning on his arm as swears flowed out of his mouth like a ticked off Titan. He lost control of his other arm as it hit a piece of plexiglass that separated him from another station, cracking the acrylic.

"Fuck I'm gonna have to pay to replace that am I?" He muttered to himself, earning no response. "I'll deal with it when they ask." He turned back to the firing range, and picked up his hand cannon once more.

Russell pressed the red button at the center of the table and readied his weapon. Two metal figures popped up—side-by-side and barely distinguishable from each other. He could only guess which one to shoot and shot the one on the left.

Thorn was an unnerving gun to say the least—even though he had shot it a good amount of times, the sound it made was absolutely gut-wrenching, it represented, in an audible way, the never-ending void that was the Darkness. The kick it gave complimented its screech, feeling like it drained a part of the user every time the trigger was pulled.

Russell was correct in his guess, as there was a positive chirp from above and another set of targets appeared. This time, his vision cleared up a bit has he could somewhat concentrate now. Colors were easier to tell apart and overall it didn't look like a television broadcast from more than half a millennia ago, which was a slight improvement.

Russell had new-found confidence as he shot one of the figures. A negative chirp and the firing range powering down told him that he picked wrong. The lights to the range shut off and he looked into darkness. He threw his gun down and left.

He might as well just stay in his room all week, since he couldn't even get the most basic of Hunter things right.

/

 _Unknown Space_

Russell sat at the side of a large queen-sized bed with a mint-green cover, practically naked except for some underwear. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes and looked through the window, towards the beautiful forest behind it.

There was a stirring behind him, making him turn around to see Cassandra, with a blanket up to her chest with a tired smile on her face. "Hey." She said.

"Hey." Russell quietly replied. "I'm just…kind of confused about all this."

Cassandra lightly giggled. "That's quite alright. Everyone I've described my plan to had been confused by it."

Russell didn't question her about her plan. He chuckled, and a small smile formed on his face. "Well, that makes things slightly easier."

"Join me." Cassandra said with a hint of authority in her voice. One of her hands reached out and softly placed itself onto Russell's. She lightly squeezed.

"Of course." Russell replied as he turned back to the bed and snuggled under the thick blanket. "Anything for you." He softly said, wrapping an arm around Cassandra as he pulled her close.

"By the way, did Mint design this room?" Cassandra's fair skin visibly paled at the question.

"Um, we're…not on speaking terms right now." She said, lowly. "It's a…long story."

"Well, I'm here to listen." Russell said.

A lock of hair fell in front of Cassandra's eye, she tucked it away. "Let's not dive into that." She said.

Russell hummed unsatisfactorily. "Come on, I can tell it's bothering you." He prodded.

"No, I'm fine."

"You su-"

"I'm _fine._ " Russell quickly shut up at her icy tone. Her grip got tighter on him, and only softened after a minute of tense silence.

She exhaled. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten angry."

Russell stayed quiet.

"Did I hurt you?"

He remained silent.

"Russell?"

Russell looked passively at Cassandra, admiring her features.

"Are you okay?" She asked, a look of concern on her face. She seemed genuinely worried that she had said something wrong.

Russell brought a finger to her mouth to silence her.

"Shh, let me just…" He couldn't find words to finish his sentence, but Cassandra most likely understood the message he was throwing out.

There was a boisterous mocking laughter in the distance, and Cassandra's face scrunched up in anger. She quickly got out of bed and dressed herself.

A shadow loomed over their home. Russell tensed and alarm signals went off in his head.

He leapt out of bed and his armor materialized on him. The sound of a Fallen Ketch could be heard.

Cassandra growled as she now donned her own Warlock armor, one hand was in a fist and her knuckles were completely white. "I _told_ _them to leave us be._ " She said through gritted teeth.

"Who?"

"Don't worry." Cassandra snapped back. "We'll deal with the Fallen."

Russell took cover beside the window, and the Ace of Spades formed in his hand.

"Where did I get this?" He wondered out loud, getting no response.

The window shattered itself as the Fallen that jumped down from the Ketch looked around confusedly, with the captain reading intensely into a data pad. Russell hesitated on opening fire, but the crack of Cassandra's auto rifle pushed him to peek out and fire a few rounds.

Ace felt…wrong, for some reason. The weapon had the same kick Russell was very familiar with, but it was missing something, it didn't have the same uncontrollable bloodlust of another weapon in which the details of it escaped his mind.

The Fallen reacted by moving into the trees, effectively concealing themselves for a few seconds.

Reality seemed to crumble away and the house's rooftop turned into dust, whilst the sides of the wall, except for the piece he was taking cover behind disappeared. All that was left was darkness and a crumbled piece of wood. A shot pinged next to his head, disintegrating the material.

There was a wicked giggle, and the hum of something floating in the air.

Russell apprehensively looked up and his eyes set on the biggest Vex mind he had ever seen. The machine reached out for him with a hand, and was just about to touch his head if not for Cassandra shielding him.

" _Enough._ " Cassandra said harshly. The Axis Mind backed away reluctantly with a disappointed beep.

A seed of doubt was placed in Russell's mind as he watched the massive Vex disappear.

Reality reformed itself.

"She acts like a child!" Cassandra stomped, generating a small shockwave that made everything shake.

/

Russell walked in the cafeteria, pale-faced and nervous as quite literally everyone was looking at him with either big smiles on their faces, or shit-eating grins.

"Say hello to the new Strike Commander!" Jim lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Secretary Alan, reporting for duty."

"Wait-what?" Russell stammered, he looked around confusedly. "Strike what now?"

Xiao crossed her arms and laughed, which sounded more like a bark. "You put yourself up to this, hero boy." She said, a grin forming on her face.

Russell sputtered. "No-no-no, this can't be right."

Xiao whispered something to Angela Ziegler, who rolled her eyes in response.

"I am _not_ fit for that." Russell flatly stated.

"I swear every Hunter says that anytime they have to do paperwork." Edgar scoffed, rolling his shoulders. "Your problem now."

Russell groaned. "Fuck, fuck, fuckfuckfuck." He muttered to himself.

"Hey, what's wrong? You're Strike Commander!" Lena Oxton zipped up to him and patted his shoulder. "You'll do great!" She excitedly said.

"I won't!" Russell hurriedly replied. "I'm a Hunter! I'm supposed to be in the field, like, constantly!"

"I'm pretty sure that's what Cayde-Six said when he was crowned Vanguard leader." Xiao chuckled.

"Who's Cayde-Six?" Angela asked.

"Old acquaintance of mine." She nodded in understanding.

"Whether you like it or not, welcome to the spotlight buddy." Crow came from out of nowhere and wrapped his massive robotic arm around Russell's neck with enough force to strangle.

"You won't be laughing when I tell you that you're in charge of training recruits." The Titan's face fell. "And guess who gets to be on the field all the time?" Xiao smugly pointed her thumb at herself.

The roll of Edgar's eyes could be felt from a mile away. "Not exactly." The Warlock said quietly, almost silent enough to blend in with the background noise. "You're co-Strike Commander. You'll be on the field more often, but probably not doing much other than watching."

Xiao twitched, a soft gloved hand was placed on her shoulder. "Benefits of being the quiet one." Edgar said, smirking.

Secretary Jim cleared his throat. "We have a meeting with the one and only Halfred Glitchbot to shoot the unveiling video tomorrow morning."

"The who now?"

/

 _Hollywood, United States of America_

"Cut! That's absolutely _not_ what I wanted! You were supposed to throw your knife at the _blue_ camera!" The Omnic director berated Russell, who sighed dejectedly in response. "God, I even color-coded it for you all! We're reshooting!"

Russell dusted himself off and trekked back to the beginning of the narrow course that served as the film setting. A fake dusty place with unreal sand blowing from every direction that obscured vision.

"Three, two, one…" Russell twirled the Ace of Spades in his hands. "Action!" He leapt forward, landing with a roll as a camera drone swooped up from the ground, keeping its eye on him as he shot his hand cannon as fast as its 140 RPM could shoot, downing two dummy enemies.

Russell turned behind himself to throw a knife at the very bright blue camera that took the form of a bad guy, landing the explosive blade in its head. It exploded soon after, and twelve more robots dropped from the sky in the same direction.

The signature charge-up sound of a Shadowshot made itself known behind him as a dark purple arrow flew by his head and landed in the middle of the pack of dummies, tethering them and generating many orbs of Light in the process.

Russell threw his hand in the air and failed to summon his Golden Gun. He hadn't picked up any of the orbs. He snarled in frustration. "Stop, I messed up."

There was an audible groan coming from the director who sat high on his chair. "You were so close! What happened to your flaming revolver!?"

"I…just couldn't summon it in time." Russell huffed in exasperation as he leaned on a wall. "Forgot to pick the orbs up." He muttered.

"Well do it this time! Restart!"

Russell felt his fist tensing as he angrily made his way back to the beginning of the course. He twirled his gun as he heard the word 'Action!', then rolled into the fray. A camera came up from the ground.

Two dummies appeared, two dummies went down. He quickly turned behind him to throw a knife. A drone camera followed the blade's trajectory while the other camera, his target, blew up in a small fiery explosion.

More robots dropped in from the skies, a Shadowshot flew by Russell's head and landed dead-center into the group of enemies, tethering them together to the dark sphere that embedded itself into the ground.

Russell quickly double-checked he didn't have the Celestial Nighthawk on, then reached into the air for his Golden Gun. His entire body cast into flames as the signature burning weapon materialized into his hands. He was quick to move and pulled the trigger as soon as the barrel was in the general direction of his targets. They all burnt to a crisp.

Suddenly, a massive replica of a Taken Phalanx was airdropped from behind him.

Russell still had a few shots left in his Golden Gun (having learned a new technique to replenish a bullet per kill), and some charge left in his ability, so he turned to fire a few shots.

There was an electric crackle from the sky as Crow came barreling in, doing his best impression of a missile as he collided head first with the fake Taken. It exploded in a magnificent explosion of Arc energy, leaving a pool of the power underneath it as it quickly fell apart. A camera swooped by to take in Crow raising a fist triumphantly on top of the replica.

"Perfect! That was _exactly_ what I wanted! Whoever just came in and did the missile thing, I love you!" Halfred Glitchbot said from a distance away. "Don't call security!"

"Kind of stole my show." Xiao said as she casually walked in practically invisible as her Spectral Blades ability was active. The Super quickly ended and she appeared. "He didn't even plan for that, and still says it was what he wanted."

"How did you even get in here?" Russell asked as he put a hand on his hip, looking expectantly and Crow.

"Asked if I could drop by, they didn't say no." Crow cracked his neck and flexed his prosthetics. "I saw the opportunity and took it."

"You better be glad it pleased him. This guy really loves to scream at people." Xiao muttered as she shot a glance at the director, who was busy discussing over a tablet with a fellow Omnic.

Russell sighed as he figuratively threw the towel in and quietly retreated from the other two Guardians.

 **Yes, Savathun being an annoying sister is exactly how I imagined her.**


	20. Trace

**Chapters 1-10 are all revised, most of them have extra lore entries, so check them out if you feel like it.**

 **You'll also notice that I bumped the rating to M. You'll see why, after I'm done with my revisions. Let me know of your thoughts on them in a review.  
**

* * *

Five hundred lives, under his command, and that was only just the first batch. Russell couldn't wrap his head around the number. Were there even that many Guardians? He wondered. They were all from around the world too, no two persons were alike, and they all spoke in different languages and all behaved differently.

Russell Dulk was the acting Strike Commander of Overwatch. He was in charge of all these fragile lives that surely couldn't be revived. He twitched as he looked at a feed of the crowd that had gathered inside the relatively tiny cafeteria of Watchpoint Gibraltar, all of them standing in front of a speech podium.

Russell took a deep breath as he opened the door to the cafeteria and began snaking his way through the crowds. It didn't take long for the recruits in orange and blue uniforms to recognize him and start cheering, most clapped, some whistled while some screamed. A straight path to the podium was cleared for him, allowing for an easy journey.

Russell stepped up in front of the podium, adjusting the microphone to his mouth. He tapped the audio-capturing device, getting a few booms from the loudspeakers in the corners of the room.

"Great, it works." He said, earning a few laughs from the crowd. A quick visual scan of the room revealed a few agents standing amidst the crowds, he then glanced towards Xiao who was standing proudly with her hands linked behind her back.

"Welcome." Russell began. "Welcome to a new age of heroes, and the reformation of Overwatch. Today, we make history. Amassed in this tiny base, is quite possibly the most diverse fighting force of all time. This is the world's first strike back against the new threat, one that surpasses the Omnic Crisis."

Russell took a deep breath.

"Many years ago, humanity and Omnics stood at the pinnacle of enlightenment. A true Golden Age, you could say. We travelled to the stars, and advanced beyond our wildest dreams, learning to build great wonders and make a better future for all of us, but alas, we risk losing it all facing a newly discovered enemy." The atmosphere was solemn, everyone was dead silent, someone coughed. "One the world has only recently acknowledged, and one that are sure to bring the end of us all if we do not do something about it."

Russell paused to take a breath and gulp. "I am your acting Strike Commander, and responsible for every single one of your lives." He felt apprehensive at the thought. "Welcome, to a new age of Overwatch, and get ready to become heroes." He flashed a grin, ending his speech.

The room stayed quiet, making Russell panic inside as his mind raced about what he said wrong. Slowly, one by one, the recruits began to clap until the entire crowd was consumed by cheers. Russell turned to Xiao, who nodded in reply with a small smile on her face.

"Now-" He couldn't hear himself over the hurrahs of the soldiers. "Alright, quiet down for a second here, I'll pass you all off to Intelligence Commander Xiao Zhen." The room quickly quieted down as Xiao walked up to the podium, clearing her throat as her head approached the microphone. Russell stepped away to the sidelines.

"Every single one of you received a badge. If it does not end with the numbers zero-three-three-seven, you can leave and report to drill sergeant Crow." A majority of the recruits dispersed, leaving a dozen men plus Genji.

"Great." Xiao paused. "The ones who are left, you have all been selected due to excelling performance in covert operations around the world, no matter how illegal." There was a light chuckle from a few.

"And that is it, report to me at oh-fifteen-hundred for orientation. I expect timeliness, so _don't_ be late. Dismissed." The cafeteria was cleared.

Xiao sighed and turned to Russell. "Not bad."

Russell hummed in response and leaned his back on a wall, huffing afterwards. "I hated it."

"Of course you did." Xiao replied, crossing her arms. "Now let's get a move on. Gotta set this place up for dinner."

"Right, of course. Is the food gonna be any good?" Xiao shrugged at the question.

"Who knows? I'll check with the chef."

/

Lena Oxton watched the video of Russell Dulk's speech towards the fresh new recruits and silently cheered along as he seemed to have captured the support of everyone there. Shame she couldn't be with them, but the world never stopped and Talon never rested.

She watched with dwindling interest from a rooftop as her target, a rather large criminal walked down a street in Brooklyn and was screaming at his goons in a distinct accent. She was only there to confirm Talon activity in this area, nothing else. No need to go down and beat up some fools, just reconnaissance.

Tracer twitched as she slid on her orange-tinted goggles, waiting for _something_ to happen. Her HUD booted up, displaying the radar in one corner and general statistics about her well-being in the other. God, this place was boring.

"'Ey, what the fuck you doin'!?" Tracer looked down to see the big man in overalls berating a poor boy in a tattered t-shirt and ripped shorts who had dropped what looked a wooden box. "Pick it up before the boss sees! Or else we all dead!"

She perked up at the mention of 'the boss'. Who would the man be referring to?

There was some sort of screech and a light thump. Tracer looked and what could only be described as a black demon with two blades spawned in, convulsing uncontrollably. It was majority black on the upper side of its body and progressively went whiter as it went down, there was a single bright spot on its head. To the side of the beast was a familiar edgy terrorist that wielded dual shotguns.

"I don't appreciate when my workers _mistreat the merchandise._ " Tracer couldn't help but roll her eyes at the unbelievably raspy and low voice from Reaper. She concentrated on the twitching thing that towered over every single person in the area, and the look it was giving to the poor scared boy didn't give her any good feelings.

"Command, I'm seein' one of your Taken accompanying Reaper." Lena said into her comms device. "Since when did Talon work with these things?"

"Agent, whatever you do, _don't engage._ Leave it alone, whatever the thing does. I'm seeing what you're seeing right now." There was some incomprehensible muttering from Russell on the other side, many countries away. "Just keep looking at it, we're gonna send a response unit to investigate as soon as possible."

Lena squinted as she saw the beast shakily take a step forward, lowly growling. It then screeched and lunged at the smaller henchman who screamed in terror and fell on his arse. Her teeth clenched together as it slowly approached the poor little guy, who had a look of pure, unadulterated horror on his face. "Sorry, command. I can't watch this."

"Lena don't-" She shut the link down and found a metal staircase on the side of the building she was on that took her down to street-level. Her Pulse Bomb was ready, and she silently hoped that it was powerful enough to take the Taken beast down. Her HUD identified it as a 'Taken Captain'. She absent-mindedly wondered what it was a captain of, since she never saw one of these things act as one.

Tracer blew a strand of hair that fell in front of her face and then zipped into action, one hand on her waist, priming the Pulse Bomb. She blinked forward, getting dangerously close to the Taken Captain, and then she tossed the sticky explosive onto it, recalling back to her original position afterwards. There were three high-pitched beeps before a small blue explosion that sent the Captain flying.

It crashed into a wall and quickly scrambled to its legs, howling before settings its eyes on her. Reaper turned his head and grimly chuckled dismissively.

"I don't have time for this." The terrorist said as he opened a black portal and stepped inside, closing it afterwards.

All that was left was a big man with a futuristic recreation of a Thompson SMG, a poor errand boy that was cowering in fear and the Taken Captain.

"Wait a second-" Tracer was interrupted by the whirr of the SMG as it fired straight towards the Captain.

"Eat this you son of a bitch!" The man said as he sustained his fire onto the Taken, slowly advancing as he cackled maniacally.

The Taken Captain snarled and threw what could only be described as a ball of darkness at the man that quickly disoriented him as fast as it was flung. It dashed up to Lena and took a swung at her with its two swords, landing a small cut on her arm that painfully shocked her, despite the minor contact.

Lena grit her teeth and blinked to the side, evading a smash from the Taken Captain. She unloaded her entire magazine into the back of the demon, seemingly doing little damage as it screamed in what sounded like annoyance before turning around and throwing another ball of darkness, barely skimming her.

She zipped straight into its arms and kicked one of its swords away, recalling back to her original position as she held a smug look on her face, seeing one of its blades discarded to the side.

The Taken Captain screeched and rushed her with its single sword, only interrupted by a burst of plasma bullets from behind as the man with the energy Tommy gun unloaded another charge into its back. Lena took the opportunity as it staggered to bash its face in with her knee, and releasing another flurry of pellets from her dual SMGs that she just so freshly reloaded.

There was a loud screech and the Captain warped away into nothingness, and all was quiet.

The big man huffed and slung his SMG over his shoulder. "You're that Tracer bitch, huh?"

"'Scuse me?" Lena replied, looking a bit offended.

"'Course you are. Anyways, thanks for the help. Knew the motherfucker would turn on me one day." The man cracked his neck and looked to his fallen henchman, who was still curled up and cowering. "You, get up."

"Who? Reaper?"

"That's his name? Damn." The man mused. "Anyways, thanks for the help. I was for sure dead if you hadn't stepped in." His accent faded a bit.

"You better ah, leave, now. Your kind ain't welcome here." He paused. "At least, yet. Who knows, ever since Talon started actin' all crazy, talkin' to the queen those demons."

"Talon are working with them?" Lena cocked her head. "Absolutely insane, these buggers."

"Tell me 'bout it." The man chortled. "Look, I didn't tell ya this but a little spider said that there's a warehouse, somewhere in Germany, where Talon are concocting all sorts of crap with these things."

"Appreciate the help." Lena waved as the man turned, pulling along his diminutive boy with him. "Thanks!" She cried out, most likely to deaf ears.

Now she had to get out of here and probably brace herself for the scolding from Russell.

/

 _The next day…_

Lena kept a bright smile on her face as she barged straight into Russell's office. He was asleep at his desk and nearly fell off his chair after being so rudely awakened.

"You won't guess what I discovered!" Lena said in a sing-song voice, determined to annoy Russell as much as she could before she broke the serious news.

"That disobeying direct orders from commanders might be a good idea?" Russell muttered in reply, rubbing one side of his face. "Yeah, I saw what happened. Good job."

Lena paused. "Wait, you're not gonna say anything about it? Not gonna scream at me?"

"'Course not. If I did, I would be a hypocrite." Russell replied, groaning as he stretched his arms. "I was taught to disobey orders I didn't think were good."

"Huh, interestin'." Lena replied, as she sat herself down on the chair across from Russell's office. There was a mish-mash of random doodads that were littered around the top of the desk, with the only clear area being the spot Russell used to rest his head on. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to pick ya? No offense, just that-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I agree, too." Russell stood up and held a bottle of water that had materialized in his hand, a few seconds later someone cried out in frustration. "So, Talon working with the Taken, huh?" He said, almost monotonal.

"Yep, and I'm here to deliver my report on it."

"Verbally or did you send me a document?"

"Both."

Russell sighed. "Alright, go ahead. I'm ready."

"So…"

Lena practiced her story-telling skills in front of her commander.

. . .

After that was done, she decided to pop by the fitness center, where the first batch of recruits were being trained by the one and only Titan Mark Crow.

Lena could definitely tell why he would be classified as a Titan, standing nearly a foot taller than anyone she knew, only being second in height to Winston, but they couldn't really be compared. Not to mention he was built like an absolute tank, looking a lot like Reinhardt.

"You're doin' great!" Lena silently encouraged a recruit who was sweating his absolute hats off on a treadmill with full body armor and a headset overtop his head. She thought she was quiet enough for it to slip by Crow but he took full notice and snapped in her direction.

"Keep going recruits, if I see any of you slowing down it's another three hundred meters for you ALL!" He screamed, walking his way to Lena, his boots clacking loudly every time they landed on the ground.

"Don't give them any positive support!" Crow whisper-screamed to her. "It makes them soft!"

Lena rolled her eyes. "Can I stick around and watch?" She quietly asked.

Crow shrugged. "Sure." He approached scarily close to another recruit who was silently putting all his effort into running.

"You're doing great, soldier!" Lena was about to object at his statement, seeing it as contradictory to what he just said to her earlier. She kept herself quiet as she noticed the soldier slow down slightly.

"Thank you, sir!" The soldier replied, eager.

"Did I tell you to SLOW DOWN!?" Crow replied, rage apparent in his voice. "Another three hundred meters!"

There was a collective groan in the entire center.

"Did I ask for an objection!?" Crow screamed out.

"No, sir!" They all said in unison.

"Good! Now keep your asses in gear!" Crow coughed and a water bottle materialized in his hand. There was another swear of frustration in the distance.

"Screaming at the top of my lungs is harder than I thought." Crow whispered as he chugged the entire bottle in three seconds flat. Lena wondered why he needed to drink water, since he was mostly machine anyways.

Lena hummed in response and watched with silent interest as the recruits all did the exact same thing. It was all so…uniform, and considering how Crow was quite possibly the antithesis of that, it was odd seeing him manage something like that.

"Lena Oxton is requested at briefing room." Athena said over the intercom.

/

As Tracer stepped into the room, all four pair of eyes were on her. Russell regarded her with a nod.

"Take a seat, Miss Oxton." He said as formally as he could. She sat down next to Xiao. "And she sits with her partner…" He mutters.

"Anyways, welcome to Operation Trance-breaker. Thanks to the lovely intelligence provided by our Brit here, we've managed to secure information on Talon's movements in Germany and their cooperation with the Taken." Russell stopped to take a breath. "I've also received a personal message from one…Reinhardt."

Lena perked up at her old friend's name. Russell took note of this.

"You're familiar with this man?" He asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Familiar? I've known him for 'bout a decade!" Lena exclaimed in glee. She looked excited to see her old comrade again, after so long.

"Great, you and Xiao are going to drop near Stuttgart, and link up with Reinhardt. Fireteam Spark, these two over here," Russell nodded to the two masked men sulking in a dark corner. "Will be on the field to assist you two in your operation. Is that understood?"

"Erm, what are we doing, exactly?" Lena asked, looking confused.

"We're blowing some stuff up." Russell said. "Mainly, Talon."

"I like the sound of that!"

"Of course you do. I would advise caution, as the soldiers there are partially taken, and you might encounter some powerful beings. Lena, listen to Xiao." Xiao glanced to Lena, then continued eye contact with Russell.

The Huntress nodded. "Fireteam Spark, your objective is to gather reconnaissance data that has not been already gathered through our satellite scans. Potential HVTs and current operations are your main objectives."

The two masked men nodded in unison, before departing the room.

"Let's get to work people, I'm running tactical." Russell said. "Now get out, both of you."

/

 _A few hours later, Stuttgart, Germany._

The tiny automatic dropship landed just a few clicks from Stuttgart, in some forest. Xiao mentioned that she had setup camp somewhere around the area, but when Lena tried to pursue the topic, she dropped the matter.

"Fireteam Specter, welcome to Germany." Xiao looked annoyed by Russell's comment. "We've received Reinhardt and his partner's location. Forwarding the coordinates to you now."

A marker appeared on her radar, and a new objective was laid out for her. Reinhardt's position was a few kilometers from theirs, and he didn't seem to be moving.

Someone patched in their comms. "Lena, is that you?" Came Reinhardt's boisterous voice. Lena practically exploded in joy upon hearing it.

"Reinhardt! It's been a while!" Her expression dropped as there was gunfire in the background. "Erm, what's happening over there?"

There was an explosion. "Not to worry, we have run into Talon! We are holding, but we are not sure for how long!"

"Is there anyone with you? Any civilians, are you injured?" Xiao asked.

"Who is this? I have rallied with a few resistance members."

"We're on our way and we'll get to you ASAP." Xiao nodded to Lena, and the two headed off.

. . .

When the forest broke, it revealed a wide open field being torn apart by a warzone where what looked hundreds of Talon soldiers were pushing versus a scrappy resistance all hiding behind a massive knight with a big shield. There was a woman in a similar style of armor but she was smaller and had a flail instead of a massive hammer.

"Let's go!" Xiao said as she jumped into the fight with an SMG. The sound of blades slashing together overcame all noise as she went invisible and began tearing through Talon soldiers. Lena followed by blinking in and taking down as many as she could in the short amount of time allotted to her.

Reinhardt and his partner, Brigitte, plus the scrappy resistance members pushed forward as Talon started to back away. There was a war cry from the massive German as they all charged. Xiao's ability ended but she still continued the slaughter with her SMG that somehow shot faster and did more damage when she killed someone.

Lena caught up with Reinhardt, who was busy shielding a few men from gunfire. "Hey, Rein!" She waved at the man, who glanced at her direction and nodded.

"Lena! How have you been?" Reinhardt boisterously asked, his voice louder than the bullets pinging off his shield.

"'ve been doin' great! How's Brigitte?" Lena asked, turning to the Swedish woman supporting the massive knight.

"Oh, you know, I've been accompanying Reinhardt on his journeys." Brigitte casually replied, throwing down another pack of armor. "Who is that, behind the enemy?"

"Her name's Xiao, she's co-commander of Overwatch." Lena looked towards Xiao who was busy cutting down Talon like a lawn mower on grass.

"Her? How come? I've never even heard her name before!" Reinhardt asked as he slowly advanced.

"She's a good…er, 'friend' of Russell, who's now strike commander if you're asking."

"Russell? Dulk, if I recall? Isn't he the one that always got into trouble?" Brigitte inquired. "I wonder why he would be chosen as strike commander."

Lena shrugged in response. "Eh, don't worry about it too much."

"If you guys are done talking, I need some help! Taken are coming in!"

"We've heard our orders, let us charge into battle!" Reinhardt did another war cry as he charged forward. Brigitte looked slightly annoyed as she followed him.

There was a dark chuckle as a man crashed from the sky, his massive fist digging a hole in the ground as he landed.


	21. Strike back

**Chapters 1-19 are revised. Have fun!**

 **I also have an AO3 account, same name, but I post stuff that isn't allowed here on there. You know, starts with s ends with t and is very explicit.**

* * *

Russell sat down at the side of the pristine bed, his hands resting on his lap as he waited for Cassandra to return. She said that she would be back soon, and he hoped that she would hold true on her promise.

It was quiet, eerily so. Nothing seemed to move, no air was blowing through the windows, no birds chirped and no animals moved. Russell gazed out the glass, focusing his attention on the build-up of Fallen corpses. He initially thought that it would raise some alarm, but it didn't.

He felt apathetic, seeing the bodies quickly fade away into nothing, leaving behind no trace of them ever existing in the first place.

A light hum from the living room caught Russell's attention. He was told to stay put inside this room, but his curiosity grew as the sound gradually increased in volume. His feet met the floor and he made his way to the source of the noise.

Inside the living room was a Vex Mind that had reduced itself so it would fit inside the relatively small chamber. It was only a couple inches taller than Russell and seemed to take up half the room.

Russell opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a harsh feedback noise inside his head. He grit his teeth and shut his eyes as his head started to throb.

" _ **Quiet.**_ " A robotic voice said from within his mind. " _ **I introduce as Qu-qu-ria.**_ "

The pain quickly subsided as the Vex mind spoke, Russell looked at the thing curiously, cautiously approaching and reaching out a finger.

He shouldn't be doing this, he thought. Cassandra would've definitely told him not to interact with whatever this was. However, its tranquility allured him.

" _ **Why hello there!**_ " A voice that sounded like it came from behind him said, making him jump. Russell turned around and yelped as an entirely non-descript slim figure stood behind him, one hand on its hip. " _ **Easily scared, hm?**_ "

Russell looked at the figure in wordless shock as it flicked its head, like it was trying to move hair out of its face. Its hands were like a Thrall's claws and its shape was like a bony woman.

" _ **Of course you are.**_ " It sneered.

"What the…" Russell couldn't form any words.

" _ **Be quiet, your voice already annoys me.**_ " It rudely said. " _ **Anyways, you may have heard of me, you may have not. My name is…let's just settle on Sav.**_ "

"Alright, Sav-"

" _ **Did I give you permission to open your mouth?**_ " Russell shut himself up, apprehensive as to what this person could do to him. " _ **Keep your mouth closed until I tell you otherwise.**_ "

" _ **I know you're scared of me, well, that could apply to anyone really, but you're going to have to trust me if you want to…er, break free from whatever her name is.**_ " Sav said. " _ **A tricky one she is, but has the same short-sightedness as every human, how tragic. She could've been so much more, but nooo, she has to be with you.**_ " She sighed in frustration.

" _ **I really, really don't like her, if you couldn't already tell.**_ " Sav grumbled to herself. " _ **How she managed to convince Riven to work with her, is beyond me and Quria, is that right?**_ " She looked behind Russell, towards the Vex mind that was idly floating.

" _ **Affirmative. Possibility of such a result is zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-**_ " Sav waved her hand.

" _ **I get it!**_ " She said, annoyed. " _ **Anyways, I'm here to propose a deal, does that sound reasonable?**_ "

Russell kept his mouth shut.

" _ **You can speak, by the way.**_ "

"What the fuck are you?" He blurted out.

" _ **Irrelevant to my question. Do you accept my offer, or not?**_ " Sav emphasized the 'not'.

"Give me a reason to trust you." Russell crossed his arms and looked suspiciously at the being before him.

Sav sighed in exasperation. " _ **Of course, you have to be nosy, I should've at least expected it.**_ "

" _ **Anyways, are you up to date on your Hive lore?**_ " Sav gave a split second for Russell to respond. He couldn't. " _ **I know you did, I saw through that Ghost too.**_ "

"The only thing I actually understood was Truth to Power…" The figure paused, and slowly turned around. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

" _ **How did you get your hands on that?**_ " Sav asked, shocked. " _ **Only one person knows of that book.**_ "

"Uh…it was in the archives." Russell replied, sheepishly.

" _ **Of course they would do that.**_ " She paused, then shook her head. " _ **No matter, that makes it even better for the both of us.**_ "

" _ **You and I both know that the end of the universe is coming, right? Entropy and all that?**_ "

"My job description is to fight entropy with stability."

" _ **Whatever, Cassandra, she's occupied Oryx's throne, I hope you know that since she's your girlfriend?**_ "

"She did WHAT!?"

Quria decided to step in. " _ **Analysis indicate that subject has established contact with unknown entity.**_ "

"Unknown entity?"

" _ **The Deep, so anyways, you understand how sword-logic works, right?**_ " Russell nodded. " _ **Good, she's becoming a lot sharper than me and my sister than anyone would like, and if she goes too far, she'll lose herself and you'll be responsible for the genocide of…**_ " Sav mouthed numbers and looked upwards in thought.

" _ **Ignore a number, just replace it with everything that exists.**_ "

Russell didn't like that idea.

" _ **I know you don't**_."

"You can read my mind!?"

" _ **You're dumber than I thought.**_ " Sav sighed in exasperation. " _ **My plan is, and listen carefully because I'm not going to repeat it, I contact the Guardians on Earth, you distract Cassandra until I can bring them to her Ascendant Plane, then you guys strike at her.**_ "

"And what about you?"

" _ **Don't worry about me.**_ " There was a hallowed scream in the distance. " _ **That's my time to leave, Quria, let's go.**_ "

The Vex Mind and the figure both disappeared, leaving Russell with a lot of questions. He didn't expect Cassandra to answer them.

/

The man's head snapped to the group of Overwatch Agents. His eyes were white with no pupils and he looked definitely Taken.

"Doomfist." Lena whispered to herself as she readied her pistols.

Doomfist leapt into the air and was crashing down towards Reinhardt, who slowly backed up and repelled the punch. A pool of burning material formed on the ground, but it didn't go through the shield. Lena blinked to the side and unloaded her pistols' magazines into the terrorist's back, reverting back to her original position moments after.

Doomfist aimlessly swung his fist in the air and charged into Reinhardt's shield, shattering it in one fell swoop.

"Agh! My shield is down!" Reinhardt said as he got knocked down. His armor held true as he was pummeled by the massive arm that was Doomfist's recognizable trait.

" **Y-You will fall!** " His voice was deeper, and demented as he turned his attention towards Lena, who stood there paralyzed by fear.

She was supposed to be moving right now, why wasn't she moving!? She looked to her feet and found some sort of swirl trapping her. Xiao saved her just in time by doing an uppercut maneuver in her purple form, pushing Doomfist away from his original trajectory.

Lena's feet were freed and she hastily used them to back away.

Xiao's ability ended, but she continued pressuring the Taken terrorist with continued fire from her revolver.

A Talon soldier, who Lena thought was dead not too long ago rose from the ground and rushed her. She blinked to the side and shoved her knee into their stomach, knocking them down before finishing them off with a burst from her pistols.

More Talon soldiers rose from the dead, rejuvenated by some sort of dark energy as they were now violently jerking like the Taken. They picked up their weapons and began shooting, all in uncanny sync.

"Deal with them, I got this guy!" Xiao said over comms, and there was an aggressive growl from her that followed.

Lena shook herself off and prepared a Pulse bomb. She blinked into the pack of Taken soldiers and threw it in. "Bombs away!" She said as the explosive rapidly beeped three times before a small explosion engulfed the group of enemies.

She wasn't out of the woods yet, as there were more to be shot down. On top of that the regular Taken blights were appearing, which meant there were reinforcements. Lena hit a Goblin in the face with the bottom of her pistol before blinking to the side and finishing it off. She hopped up and flipped over a Minotaur that was mere centimeters away from bashing her face in, landing behind it. She prepared another Pulse bomb and stuck it onto the robot, pushing it into its friends that all died soon after.

"Lena, watch out!" Lena ducked as a Taken Captain's body was sent flying her direction. "I am very sorry!" Reinhardt said as he swung his hammer some more.

"No worries!" Lena replied as she roundhouse kicks a Taken soldier, finishing it off with a burst from her pistol.

Brigitte throws down a few armor packs and charges into battle, supported by a few militia as her smaller shield couldn't protect more. She uses her flail to knock a few Taken silly before returning to her defensive positioning, allowing the ones behind her to lay down some fire.

Lena turns to Xiao, who is busy dealing with the big 'ol Taken Doomfist that seems to be triple her size. She looks back at the turning tide of the battle as Talon seemed to be giving ground. She makes up her mind and rushes to assist the Huntress.

A Pulse Bomb ready, she quickly blinks in and shoves it into Doomfist's big fist, blinking backwards as his attention turned on her. She fires a burst from her pistols, and makes him flinch as her bomb exploded. He didn't seem fazed though as he quickly charged up his punch, his intentions being quite obvious the way he was looking at her.

Her feet froze and she was physically unable to move. She looked down to see that same swirl he had used on her at the beginning of their encounter. Xiao jumped into the air and drew a dark bow from nothing and shot a single arrow behind Doomfist. A half-sphere formed on the ground and a black-purple tether seemed to restrict the terrorist from moving any further. His attack was stopped mid-way and Xiao took the opportunity to shoot an orange laser from a bony looking weapon.

Lena wondered what that did to him, as he seemed to be unmoved by the initial beam, but he was quickly thrown into the air as dozens, if not a hundred explosions rocked him.

Doomfist snarls and screeches as a portal opens behind him and he falls in.

"Stay here, I'll go after him!" Xiao held her palm behind her as she prepared to jump in.

"You'll get killed in there!" Lena argued back.

"Whatever, follow if you want! I'm not responsible if you die!" Xiao says as she jumped in. Lena followed her in, landing on a floating rock platform, alone.

She saw her partner on another island, looking about as confused as her.

A little shrine with a ball relic appeared in front of Lena. Doomfist landed in front of her, making an impact as he punched a hole in the ground whilst coming down. There was a white shield surrounding the terrorist and he looked way too confident for someone that almost got decimated by a exploding laser just a moment prior.

Lena sprayed the entire magazines of her dual pistols and he didn't react. In fact, every pellet that hit him seemed to bounce off like rain on a waterproof coat.

"Uh oh." She said as she blinked to the side, evading a few shots from Doomfist's shotgun that's embedded in his knuckles. She blinked again and emptied another magazine into him, doing nothing as he jumped up with an uppercut and smashed into the ground, darkly chuckling as she was knocked to the side.

"Grab the ball at the middle and pass it to me!" Xiao's voice came through her comms. She leapt to the relic that's being held by its shrine and then threw it as hard as she could to her teammate. "Now give me a clear shot at him!"

"For what!? We playin' dodgeball!?" Lena replies as she's punched up into the air and pummeled. "Oogh!" She groans as she feels a few ribs break. Doomfist looked ready to continue but was interrupted by the ball being thrown at him, exploding on impact.

He was stunned and fell down, dazed and vulnerable.

"If you want to do some damage, now's the time!" Lena primes another Pulse Bomb and lobs it onto her target. It explodes soon after and makes Doomfist utter a guttural moan that felt like it shook her to the core.

He rises into the air once more and his eyes start to glow white.

" **Such strength!** " He said as his arms reach upwards and a shiny orb starts forming in between his hands.

" _ **Jump in!**_ " A voice inside her mind said as a hole just big enough to fit her opened. She jumped in without hesitating and was she felt like she was constantly falling in this dark place. There was an explosion that could rock the Earth to its core from above.

She was teleported above her island, and Doomfist was now on the other platform, with Xiao. Before she could even gather her mind together, a purple ball was in a parabolic trajectory straight to her chest. She reacted quick enough and caught it, seeing the relic start sparking before preparing it to throw at the enemy.

"Now!" Xiao said as Lena let the ball fly. It strikes Doomfist and there's a small explosion plus a short, high-pitched beep. "Nice!"

Xiao threw down one of her arrows and pummeled her enemy with as much firepower as she could give.

Doomfist cried out in agony as he started convulsing and a black ooze start spraying out of him.

A massive, shadow-form version of Cassandra appeared in front of the two platforms. She glared at both of them before one of her arms prepared to swing.

" _ **Careful!**_ " The voice inside Lena's mind said as she was suddenly teleported back to the real world. Xiao was brought with her, plus the currently twitching corpse of the Taken Doomfist. She felt something materialize behind her.

"Watch out-" Brigitte tried to say as a massive person's body that probably quadrupled Lena's weight fell on her. "Ouch."

"Ugh-oh, get him off!" Lena tapped her reached out arm in front of her as she felt the air being pushed out of her body. Reinhardt was quick to answer by hefting the massive terrorist off of her, and flipping him to his back.

Doomfist slowly woke with a groan. "I have seen terrible things…whoever you are…thank you." He said, very sincerely. He shook his head as he leaned on his knee. "The Queen knows no bounds…something must be done."

"Well, freeing you're our first step!" Lena cheerfully said as she pats the darker man's back. She is immediately grabbed by the throat. "Whoa!" She wheezes out.

Reinhardt tears the arm away from her. Lena is wheezing as she regains her breath. Doomfist can barely hold himself back as he struggled in the German's grip.

"What is she doing here!?" Doomfist asked, glaring holes into the Brit.

"Wow, not even a thanks?" Lena replied, putting a hand on her hip. "Relax, big guy, we freed you."

"Where are we?" The terrorist looked around himself. "What happened?"

"We'll tell the story later, for now, you have to relax." Xiao said as she took off Doomfist's fist and bound his hands together. "Nothing personal, just precautions."

He grunted in response. "I want answers." He muttered.

"You'll get them soon enough, buddy. Prep this guy for transport to HQ."

" _ **So, you up for some regicide?**_ " The feminine voice in Lena's head asked, but she's too tired to even respond. " _ **Wow, that's a good answer, really makes me think.**_ " It said quite sarcastically.

"Ow!" The pain of the broken ribs get to her as she clutched her stomach area.

/

Russell had been seeing…visions, in his sleep. Visions of a better life with Cassandra, in a small wooden house located in the middle of a sprawling forest. He saw himself sleeping and caressing her, gently feeling her soft hair in between his fingers, and being embraced by the one he truly loved.

He groaned as he sat up in his bed, his face buried into his palms. He heard his Ghost materialize.

"Hey." Jingles said as he attempted to use one of his many facets to separate to fingers. "I…want to say something."

"Go ahead, I'm listening…" Russell replied, his voice muffled.

"I need you to be looking at me, please." The construct said as he gently nudged his Guardian, who raised his head in response. "Thanks."

Russell has a small smile as he looked at his Ghost, admiring the pure blue in its single eye.

"I'm sorry, for…well, being like this." Jingles said, looking downwards, as if in shame. "I was so worried about you doing all this Hive stuff."

Russell sucked a breath in, and exhaled. "I'm sorry for making you worry about me in the first place." He paused. "I don't deserve you, Jingles."

"Don't say that." Jingles snapped towards his Guardian. "You're my Guardian, and we've been through everything by now."

Russell chuckled at the thought. "I know, and you had to deal with me since…when did you wake me up again?"

"Oh, far back…when the Warlords and Iron Lords were still a thing."

"Damn." He chuckled in nostalgia as he remembered the Dark Age. "To think I've been alive for this long, thanks to you."

Jingles floated in front of Russell, his eye keeping a constant contact with his Guardian. He chuckled. "Don't sweat it-ow…OW." The Ghost recoiled backwards and his edges all curl inwards. "Oh my-OW!"

Russell's looked concerned. "You okay there?"

"Yeah-ow…whoever sent that message…ouch." Jingles' edges all straighten up as he looked straight now. "It's from…someone called Sav, she's requesting you to meet with her at these coordinates-ohhhh what's happening to me!?" He then started levitating upwards and spinning violently.

"Jingles!?" Russell reached out for his Ghost, but the construct backed away every time he got close enough to touch. "Jingles!"

" **Why hello there!** " Cassandra's voice spoke through Jingles' body. " **Oh, you look miserable.** **Is everything alright?** "

Russell backed up to the wall behind him as he looked at what was his Ghost. Jingles was frozen still and his eye was now white. "What did you do to him?"

" **Oh, Jingles is fine, I only have a minute, and he'll be back.** " Cassandra giggled. " **Anyways, you'll be receiving a few…messages from something that calls itself 'Quria'. Don't listen to what it says.** "

"How did you-"

" **Oh shush, you, always asking questions. Be a dear and do as I say, and please keep that bitch Xiao off my case.** " Russell was surprised at her uncharacteristic vulgarity. " **Well, I guess that's it. I'm waiting for you, Russ. Find me.** " There was the sound of a kiss, and all was quiet.

Jingles started moving again. "Whoa! What happened!?"

"What the fuck?" Russell muttered as he looked at his Ghost in shock.

"Hello? You going to explain?"

"Yeah, I will, in a second."

"Something's telling me you won't mention this ever again."

* * *

 **Sorry this is all I can put out in a few weeks, I'm trying to get the ball rolling again after finishing with my revisions.**


	22. Simulate

**Gonna be changing the writing style from now on, I feel more comfortable with the present instead of past-tense, let me know if I'm good with it.**

* * *

The wind is soft, and the air of the crystal night is pure. The sky is filled to the brim with tiny sparkling diamonds that softly twinkle, beckoning Russell to rise up and find them. He sighs and rubs his eyes, clearing a tiny blur in his vision. There are soft footfalls to his right. He looks that direction and sees Cassandra steadily sitting down, exhaling in what looks like relaxation.

Her eyes shut and she tilts her head upwards, softly humming.

"…Hey." Russell says as he reaches one arm out to her hand. "You doing alright?" He asks.

Cassandra has a small smile and the two lock hands together. "I'm quite good, thank you." She says. Her tone makes his heart feel like its tearing his chest to pieces. She lays down next to him, and snakes an arm under his neck, lightly pulling him close to her.

She takes an audible sniff of his hair and sighs longingly. "What are you looking at?"

Russell takes a quick glance at her then looks to the midnight purple sky. His free arm points to the general direction of a star. "I just feel like…exploring, you know? Find out what the universe has to offer."

"Sometimes, I just want to drop everything and take you with me." He says, and nuzzles his head into the crook of her neck.

Cassandra chuckles and reciprocates. She begins humming a low tune but develops into a light, wordless song. Her voice is something he doesn't expect. She hits every single note and Russell's heart feels like its twisting out of his body. He doesn't notice the tears welling up in his face.

His arms wrap around her body and he hugs her close. She cries with him.

"I'm a trainwreck." Cassandra says in between sobs. "I can't control any of this. I'm in over my head…"

He pats her back. "It's okay, it's okay. Everything's okay." He mumbles, which seems to soothe her. "We're a long way from stability, but it's going to come."

Cassandra wipes her face and is tearfully smiling. "You're exactly like him…" She whispers.

Russell is taken off guard by the statement. "What-" He tries to speak but is interrupted as she wraps her lips around his. He tenses up for a second but relaxes, letting his head fall onto the grass. She's on top of him.

There is smirk on Cassandra's face after she pulls away. She hops off and lays flat on her back next to him, sighing. "I feel like I'm constantly moving up and down, you know?" She says. "Contemplating what to do next, how to win this war."

She pauses and turns to Russell, her face turning grave. "I need you to promise to me, one last time." She sucks in a breath. "Will you stand with me?"

He pauses and thinks for a minute. "Of course…I promised you."

Her face is full of joy, and her fingertips graze his forehead. There is a tiny, barely noticeable shock coming from them, as he feels his mind get pulled from its brain and then placed back in. Once she's done, her hand reaches out for Russell's, which is laying on the grass. "Hold me." She demands. Russell obeys, and they're suddenly teleported into space.

More specifically, they were hovering far from Saturn, where the asteroid ring surrounding the planet looked like a model scale. They approach, and the hole made by the Dreadnaught is now visible. Dead vehicles ship by them as they close in on the former Taken King's flagship.

"Whoa…" Russell mutters as he phases right through an asteroid. "What are we doing here?" He says, his head pivoting left to right as he scans his surroundings.

Cassandra giggles. "You'll see." She pauses, and they both hurtle to a stop. She sighs. "Isn't it just beautiful?" She asks, pointing towards the Dreadnaught. The black and rectangular ship was very slowly floating into Saturn. Its movement is nearly imperceptible, but it is there.

Russell doesn't understand her. Why would she find that beautiful? It oozes creepiness, for crying out loud! "Um."

"That's beside the point. I'm going in there."

The information goes through one ear and out the other. "…What?"

"For now…" Cassandra turns to him, and she hold his hands. "I want you to find yourself."

Russell doesn't understand. "…Find myself?"

"Wow, you really are a good copy of him." She says, her palm grabbing him by the collar. "Wander the Realm. If you see an exact copy of you, let me know, hm?" She smiles and lets him go, allowing him to drift away into the nothingness behind.

Russell physically cannot move as he is sucked through a portal and thrown into a dark realm. His boots find the ground with a clash, and dirt kicks up in a small cloud. He looks around, and a hand cannon is floating underneath a glow that isn't coming from anything. He blinks a few times, looks at the weapon questioningly, then slowly approaches it.

"What the fuck?" Russell asks, as his hand reaches out for the Nation of Beasts in front of him.

" _ **Sorry, it's the best I could do.**_ " A female voice in his head says.

/

Xiao huffs as she watches Overwatch agents interrogate Doomfist through a security feed. Her eyes narrow as she sees him shift uncomfortably in his way-too-small chair, and her lips curve downwards when she hears the metal of the seat flex under his weight.

"Is that all we can afford?" She turns to Russell, who shrugs.

"I'm not in charge of that." He says, and takes a sip of his drink, painfully gulping it down afterwards. "What's he saying?"

"From what Edgar is saying…" She rewinds back a bit in the footage. "It's the entire process of being Taken."

"Does that information have any use?" Russell roughly coughs and covers his mouth, looking away from the monitor for a second.

"Well, you know how we managed to establish a foothold on the Dreadnaught?" Xiao asks, her face not turning.

"Kind of?"

"Well, with his information, we can find a way to setup a-"

"Oh no, you're absolutely insane." Russell coughs again and sets down his beverage. "We are not making a landing zone inside her Ascendant Realm. Has it even been done before?"

"Well, no." Xiao says, and huffs. "First time for everything."

"I'm not allowing this." Russell stubbornly says and turns to the exit.

"What happened to you?" Xiao asks, turning towards him and putting a hand on her hip. "Ever since you made Thorn, something's been off with you."

Russell doesn't answer. She puts a step forward. "Answer me." He exhales through his nose and steps closer to the way out. "You're not leaving this room until I get a response." Xiao steps after him and grabs his hand, keeping a vice grip on it.

He tries to shake her off, and sends a glare her way. "Xiao, get your hand off me." He says.

She shakes her head. "Not until you tell me what happened back on our Earth."

"It's none of your business." Russell icily says through gritted teeth. "Now let go."

"We're supposed to be working together, don't you know that?" Xiao says as she tightens her hold. Her eyes narrow and size him up. "Spill it, Dulk."

Russell tenses, before sighing. He grabs a chair and slumps down on it. "I'm having memories of things that never happened."

Xiao slowly nods before crouching down so she can be face-level. "Does it involve…her?"

"Yes, it always does!" He snaps. "Always a cabin in a forest. She's never not there, a constant in every dream."

"And you know what? She can send messages through my Ghost now."

Xiao's face turns grave. "…How long have you known this?"

"It happened last night. Couldn't sleep a single bit because of it." Russell's fist tightens and he pulls out his Ghost. "Tell her, Jingles." He mumbles.

The Ghost looks at his Guardian apologetically, his bright blue eye flickering. His facets all come apart as a blue energy forces them away from each other, a single orb at the center of it all.

"Oh, you look miserable. Is everything alright?" Cassandra's voice plays through the Ghost. There is the sound of a VCR tape winding forward, most likely an aesthetic decision. "Be a dear and do as I say, and please keep that bitch Xiao off my case."

Xiao slowly nods and her bottom lip overtakes the top. She lets out a quiet hum and crosses her arms. "I don't know if I should be honored or scared that I made her say that."

"Keep that bitch Xiao off my-" The recording cuts short as Jingles comes back together. He tilts his body sideways.

"Yeah…she's pretty angry." The Ghost says as he floats back to his Guardian. "I didn't even know that happened, I just…blacked out."

Russell rubs his eyes. "I need some sleep." He yawns and stands up, stretching his arms. "Let me know when the interrogation's done."

Xiao scoffs and clicks her tongue. "Sure." She says and nods her head dismissively.

Russell turns around and leaves the room.

Xiao sighs as she crumples down on a chair. She sighs and watches with mild interest the Overwatch agents ask Doomfist various questions about the Taken. He looked quite enthusiastic to answer and was oddly cooperative for an international terrorist.

She flicks her head downwards and she grabs a datapad that contained the after-mission reports from her agents in Germany. She squints to read and holds the tablet up.

"Taken have immediately withdrawn following the capture of Doomfist. I have also seen no signs of Talon, but in Annex B, there are trucks departing Stuttgart." She reads out loud, to herself. "Spark-Zero-two has managed to find details of the vehicles' route, see Annex C. Recommend an operation to intercept before they arrive at their destination."

Xiao audibly groans and cracks her joints, then leaves the room, leaving it empty.

She has a fireteam to gather.

/

 _Hours later…_

Mark Crow is playing with Arc energy in between his fingers, watching with idle interest as the blue-white electric energy crackles. He sends a small amount, just big enough to make them jump, to the person beside him, and starts cackling like a maniac, while his seat neighbor grumbles to themselves and scoots away as far as they can.

"You're scaring them, Crow." Edgar says, sighing in exasperation as he takes a seat between Crow and the Overwatch agent in a black tactical suit that covered his entire body. When the Titan tried to play with his preferred energy again, the Warlock stopped him by burning a small portion of his hand.

Crow grumbles to himself as he slumps forward, using his hands to support his chin as his feet start tapping on the ground. There is a loud beep that makes them all jump up.

"Target is below. Make sure to secure the trucks…" Edgar takes the leadership role and paces back and forth, eyeing everyone carefully. " _Intact._ " He glares at Crow, who rolls his eyes.

There is a small chuckle from a fellow agent, who quickly shuts up as the Titan nearly double their size shot a glance at them.

"Let's go." Edgar says as he nods towards the opening back door of the VTOL. "Crow, you're first to jump."

Crow grins and cracks his knuckles. He feels Arc energy flow through him as he puts on foot back, and charges up his Super ability, flying out of the aircraft a second after.

Adrenaline pumps through his veins as he is on a dive head-first to the lead vehicle in the convoy. He makes slight adjustments so he isn't too close to destroy anything.

His reservations about head trauma are cast aside as he makes impact, a pool of Arc energy forming under him as he kicks up a cloud of dust that obscures him for a moment, giving him enough time to take a nice pose.

The barrel of Crow's Ikelos Shotgun is pointed upwards as he stares down the driver of the front vehicle, who doesn't look phased at all. They, alongside many others, step outside of their trucks and point weaponry in his general direction. He makes the first move, jumping up to gain momentum and then crashing down on them with a punch. It caved a hole in the ground underneath their corpse.

Crow looks up as a white orb is thrown down on him, giving a nice over-shield that protected him from the sustained gunfire from the Talon goons.

Edgar is gently floating down as he takes out a few soldiers with his Polaris Lance mid-air, before landing on top of one and sending them to the floor. The Warlock places down a soft, gently swirling rift underneath himself, beside a truck.

The rest of the agents landed behind Talon, and should be doing some work whilst on the flank.

Crow wordlessly turns his attention and takes off the top half of another soldier with a single shell from his shotgun. He punches another to activate Trench Barrel before taking off their entire bottom half with a single shot. The Titan turns around and grabs the butt of an assault rifle that attempted to hit his head, wrestling the weapon of its owner's control before savagely beating them with it until it broke.

Crow uses the remains of the rifle and hurls it at another soldier, knocking them out. He pops a shield barricade behind him, which would last long enough for him to take cover and regenerate a bit of his health. His Ghost cheered him on like it was a Crucible match.

Edgar timed his shots precisely and always managed to land the fifth bullet in the head of someone that was nearby a friend. He ducks a jab and tackles the goon to the wall of a vehicle, grabbing them by the collar and landing several devastating punches to their now-cracked visor.

Everyone's attention is grabbed by a roar as a Taken portal appears into view and a single Primeval Captain is spat out. It stares rabidly at the Guardians before throwing one of its balls of darkness. Edgar manages to side-step it and pulls a broadsword from the air, a resounding clang accompanying the summon. He throws arcs of fire at the beast, which seems to distract it long enough for Crow to load a rocket launcher.

The Titan flies upwards and the Captain eats the rocket of a Hoosegow-XE5837 with cluster bombs on the side. The initial explosion sent it flying, whilst the tiny ones fell it temporarily. As soon as the corpse collapsed, it rose again and screamed so loud the Earth shook.

Crow backs away behind a truck, only for it to be discarded, leaving a very vulnerable Titan loading a rocket launcher. As soon as the munition went in, it went out and hit the Captain at dangerously close range. He flies backwards and hits a tree, tilting it slightly. His armor has burn marks. He slumps down unconscious.

/

Edgar grits his teeth as he sees the Captain rise for a second time. He yells out at it, taking its attention before backing away, at a very fast speed thanks to a technique he learned with Icarus Jumps. It chased after him, screeching its heart out along the way.

Once the Warlock thought he was far enough, he calls for his Dawnblade once more, but this time his intentions with it are quite different. He wields the blade and rushes the Captain, deflecting the orange fire that is being thrown his direction. He knocks its weapon out of its hands and slices off one of its four arms. It looks stunned as he presses the massive weapon into its stomach, earning a squelch as the Light-imbued metal purged the Darkness from the Taken's flesh. There is a momentary flash as the Captain turns into a regular Fallen one, before it slumps onto the ground.

Edgar pulls his blade and watches it disappear from his hands. He looks down at his work and rushes back to the convoy.

By now, every Talon soldier had surrendered or were dead. The two extra agents shepherd the few prisoners away, while Edgar kneels next to his Titan friend. He slaps Crow's helmet lightly. "Get up." He sternly says as he gives another slap.

Sighing as he wasn't waking up, Edgar winds up his arm and strikes him across the face as hardly as he can. This seems to earn a reaction, as the Titan gasped and groaned.

"What the fuck happened?" Crow asks as he rubs the back of his helmet. "Feels like I got trampled by a Walker."

"We'll discuss that later, lets find out what's in these trucks." Edgar reaffirms as he reaches out a hand, pulling Crow up once it was grasped. "Check the front ones, and I'll check the back ones."

Edgar makes his way down the line of vehicles, tracing his hand as he walked. He starts with the one at the back. Tearing open the two door reveals what looks to be a half-circle with wires sticking out as if it was a teenager's DIY electronics project. It looked like it was part of something bigger. Edgar marks the vehicle for pick-up.

He goes to the next one, but this one has nothing. It served as troop transport, with the back being a thin tarp that surely couldn't have protected against the elements.

The third one in the line reveals a flat, pyramidal base, that is missing something to connect at the top. Perhaps the thing in the first truck connected with this thing?

"Crow, what'd you find?" Edgar asks as he looks to his colleague, who is hauling another half-circle. "Put that down! You could break it!"

"I studied electrical engineering in my previous life, I think carrying it should be fine." Crow dismissively says. "Let's get this back to base."

"You're not going to carry it all the way back, are you?" Edgar asks, his temperament heating up a bit.

"I could."

"Absolutely not."

"You want me to prove it?"

"No!"

/

 _One day later…_

Back at base, Edgar watches as the contraption he and Crow found is now fully assembled in a vacuum sealed room with scientists in lab coats surrounding it. The base connected with the two half-circles that came together to form one full one that looked big enough to fit one average size person to go through.

"Looks like a portal." Crow says as he bites a disgustingly large piece of an enormous energy bar. "You think it takes us to the Ascendant Realm?" He says, in between chews.

Edgar looks at his fireteam mate in disgust. "Have you been taught manners?" He says.

Crow shrugs and swallows his food, throwing the rest of his snack away into a trash bin nearby.

Russell silently walks up behind the two, quieter than he normally would. They both jump as he touched their shoulders.

"Whoa, you're quiet." Crow mutters as he turns to his commander. "So, what's up?" He looks to the Hunter, who's only staring off towards the portal.

"Uh, hello?" He waves his hand in front of Russell, who doesn't react. "You there?"

"Is that a portal?" Russell asks.

"We don't know that yet." Edgar buts in.

"That's a portal." Russell confirms.

"How would you know that?"

"Just trust me, I know. I'm gearing up, shout my way once it's online." The door slides open behind them, and someone clears their throat.

"You're going nowhere, tough guy." Xiao says. Everyone turns to her.

"And who told you that?" Russell steps forward one foot, his stance looking aggressive. "Don't you know who's strike commander?"

"Please, don't bore me with that crap." Xiao squints and stares back. "You're supposed to be leading us, Russell. Not going into some sketchy contraptions."

There is a boom from the laboratory behind the window. Edgar looks behind himself. The device is now fully assembled and was whirring up, its whine getting progressively higher. The scientists inside the lab quickly back away and vacate the room.

The Warlock's eyes narrow as he watches the contraption start shaking. "Cut the power." He says, turning backwards. "Now." He tries to shove past Russell.

"No, just wait a second." The Hunter says as he watches the machine in interest. He approaches the glass. "I think it's…working."

Edgar pushes past Xiao and puts his hand on the emergency power switch, not waiting a moment to pull it down. There is a dying whirr as the laboratory's electricity is cut off.

Russell exhales. "Of course, just when something was about to happen." He says, annoyed. "Get Winston on this." He turns around, his cloak hitting Crow in the face before stepping his way out of the room.

"What's gotten into him?" Crow asks, looking towards the door.

"I don't know, and that scares me." Xiao says. "Keep an eye on him. He is _formally_ restricted from getting close to this thing."

"Define 'close'?" The Titan asks, earning a glare from his two fireteam members.

"Cut the crap."

* * *

 **OUTBREAK PRIME WOOOOOOOOOOO**


	23. Apart

Russell sits on a rock that magically rose from the ground, shaking his head as he thinks about what to do next.

All he had seen so far was emptiness and a foreboding hum was constant in his ears.

He needs to get out of here.

"I need to find a way out." He rubs his face and feels for the Nation of Beasts on his waist. "It feels like I don't belong…" He mutters.

Yeah, that's what was bothering. He felt so out of place in this realm.

He wonders if Cassandra is responsible for that. He hopes not.

Russell can't pull out his Ghost, every time he tries it yields nothing. The voice in his head kept on teasing him about it.

" _ **What, can't live without your Ghost? Psh.**_ " It said, once. " _ **Man up, tough guy.**_ "

He hasn't kept track of how long he's been here.

There are heavy footsteps to his right. A Taken Phalanx is busy walking around, not caring for anything around it. Russell wished he could have such a care-free life.

He raises his hand cannon and shoots it in the head once, killing it. Its head explodes in a light-blue explosion that somewhat blinds him.

" _ **Whoa there, a bit violent, are we?**_ " Sav says, giggling. " _ **I know you're going to complain about how I've done literally nothing for you, but trust me, I'm working on something.**_ "

"Has that something helped me yet?" There is silence, and Russell sighs. "Exactly."

" _ **Hey, don't get rude.**_ " She says, in that condescending tone. " _ **And I'm not being condescending!**_ "

"I've been stuck here for Traveler-knows-how-long, you think that would make you work a _tiny_ bit faster?" Russell replies. "You totally sound like you're talking down to me, by the way."

" _ **Sorry that you're too much of a numb-skull to appreciate my plan! Just you wait, it will benefit us all.**_ "

"You know, Sav, I'm pretty sure you're just gonna fuck us all over and get everything for yourself." He sighs again and stands up. "I better get moving, I got a whole universe to explore." He muses.

There is a scoff. " _ **Sure, go ahead. See how you'll like it without me.**_ "

"I would like that very much."

" _ **You'll see, you'll see.**_ "

Russell cracks his neck and hops to another floating platform, landing on both his feet. He's gotten good at this rock-jumping thing. He takes mental note of what changed, that being the number of platforms he's jumped, before moving on to the next.

There is a lion's roar behind Russell. He snaps and draws his weapon, only to see a Warlock grinning at him.

"How have your explorations gone, dear?"

"Pretty good, I would say." Russell shrugs and turns around. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some more empty rocks to jump. You reckon whoever owns this place can add something to do?"

Cassandra laughs, and catches up with him. "You're a joy to listen to, even if you're not…" She stops herself.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Russell replies, double-jumping to the next flat rock. "I got enough stress from seeing nothing at all." He chuckles at his remark.

"This place is empty, I know." Cassandra's fingers play with his hair. "Stay faithful, for me."

"Faithful in what?" He stops, and turns to the Warlock. "Faithful in my mental health, which by the way, is about to be shattered in a million pieces?"

"I've been walking this place for days, if not weeks by now. Nothing attacks me, nothing talks to me, and nothing pays attention to me." Russell says, frustrated. "I am so bored out of my skull that I'd rather shoot myself with this thing!" He points to the weapon on his waist.

Cassandra laughs. "He even got the superficial complaining correct." She stops and softly smiles, stepping close. "I should reward you, for going at this for _so long._ " Her hands wrap around his back and she pulls him in for a tight hug.

"God damn you're strong!" Russell can barely breathe as he is almost squeezed to death. His head is gently grabbed at the sides and his head is tilted forward.

Cassandra kisses his forehead and holds him in the crook of her neck, resting her head on his. She sighs dreamily.

"I appreciate this." She says. "Thank you for not…resisting."

"Why would I resist?" Russell replies, his voice muffled by her clothes. "This is the most stimulation I've had in a while."

"Is it, really?" Cassandra laughs, and her hand does a back-and-forth rub of his scalp. She gives his head another kiss before the two separate.

"Thank you, really." Russell says, looking down. "Please stay a while."

He can see her heart break in front of him.

"I'm sorry…" Her eyes slam shut, and some tears come out. "It's too real…" She sobs, then disappears in a flash.

"…Too real?"

/

 _Watchpoint Gibraltar_

Xiao locks the door behind her and her gaze is set on Russell, who is glaring at her from the other side of the conference table.

"Sit down, let's discuss." He says, through gritted teeth. "About the mission to the Ascendant Realm."

Xiao crosses her arms and squints. "You pulled a full one-eighty regarding that. First, you're telling me we're not doing it, and now you want to go in head first?"

"I…re-evaluated the risk and the potential advantage we can gain, and I deem it best that I go." Russell looks at her with hostility. "We're getting to the bottom of this Taken threat, and we have to use every opportunity we get."

Xiao scoffs. "Please, you and I both know that it's far too early to be even planning something like this."

"And who said?" Russell asks, smugly.

"Our intel on Talon movements. We need to put a stop to them first before we conduct a raid class operation on Cassandra herself." The Huntress flicks a lock of hair out of her field of vision. "We haven't had, let alone organized, one in who-knows how long!"

"Talon are inconsequential, compared to the chance we have right here! We can finish this whole war!" Russell argues, his eyes burning with a frustrated fire. "Why don't you see it!"

"I do see the chance, but it's too low for any of us to realistically believe, she's had, what, how many years on this planet to develop her army? Tell me, Russell." Xiao's fist tightens, and the urge to punch the peacock in the face grows. "You're her girlfriend! She's in love with you!"

Russell's Ghost, Jingles materializes. "Russell, she has a point." He says, backing away a bit from his Guardian and orbiting close to Xiao.

"Oh come on, not you too." Russell says, and then sighs. "Fine, deal with Talon." He mutters, then waves her off.

"We're not done here, Dulk." Xiao says, her brows furrowing. "This isn't like you."

"What's not like me? That I'm serious for once?" He exclaims, sarcastically. "What, am I just the Cayde-Six copycat to you!?"

A half-smile grows on her face, she chuckles. "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. _You._ "

"Why would you be worried for me? Hunters care for themselves."

"Yeah, until they forgot how to do that." Her gaze fixes on Russell. "You've been treating yourself like shit these past few weeks."

"Oh, be quiet." Russell mockingly says. "You don't have to stick your nose into every single thing I do!"

Xiao closes her eyes and exhales. "You're acting like a child Russell."

The door behind her suddenly opens and a person rushes in.

"Talon's broadcasting a message." Edgar says. "Cassandra's there too."

. . .

Russell follows Xiao and Edgar to the main cafeteria, where a projector has been rapidly setup and the picture was slightly tilted.

Infamous terrorist Reaper is standing in front, and staring at the camera. Cassandra is behind him and has her hands on his shoulders. The only sound the terrorist is making is a heavy breathing, then a subdued yelp.

There is screaming from Reaper as Cassandra was doing something behind him, and his body seems to be tearing from reality as he starts warping into himself. The screams increase in volume, then the power goes out.

There is a dark chuckle from the base's PA system.

The Ace of Spades appears on his waist, and his Ghost materializes on his shoulder, acting as a flashlight. "Get eyes on him." He says, his voice ice-cold as he draws his weapon. "Everyone, stay in here." There is a screech from the PA.

"OoOVeRRWATCH…" Reaper's distorted, and wavering voice is heard. There is a scream as he sounds like he's jumping between realities. There is panting afterwards. "I…I can't do this."

" **He can't do it.** " Cassandra's voice booms through the loudspeakers. " **I had hope for you.** "

"I'm-I'm sorry, I-" There is a warping sound.

"Did I just hear Reaper die?" Lena asks.

"I don't think that's what you should be worried about." Xiao mutters as a portal is opened dead-center in the cafeteria, and everyone vacated the area in a split second.

Reaper's half-Taken and half-human body is thrown out. The man is thrashing about as he struggles with something from inside his body. He quite literally explodes and his body his still. He looks Taken.

"What in bloody hell did I just witness?" Lena yells, her back pressed up against a wall. "Shoot it!"

Russell doesn't hesitate and unloads a few rounds into the terrorist's body. The corpse doesn't react for the first few bullets, but starts uncontrollably shaking.

Reaper rises up into the air, his hands outstretched to the sides and the eye portions of his owl-mask are glowing white.

" **Prepare to DIE!** " An omnipotent sounding voice says as two shotguns materialize in the terrorist's hands.

"EVERYONE GET OUT!" Russell screams as he shields a soldier behind him.

" **DIE, DIE, DIE!** " The Taken terrorist starts spinning and shooting from his akimbo weapons. His motions are a blur as his Hellfire Shotguns fire at breakneck speeds, and massacre any person in the way.

Russell falls over as a shell hits his skull, and he is pelted by many more.

/

Russell feels a shock as he feels something cave into his head, like a shotgun shell from a Dust Rock Blues that hit him in the dome. He feels an immense pulsating pain and keels over.

"Oh…" He mumbles. "What the fuck!" He yells to no one, the sensation very slowly reducing.

"That…that came out of nowhere." He mutters as his head now returns to its normal state.

" _ **Wow, you just died in the real world.**_ _"_ Sav says. " _ **Shotgun shell to the skull, that didn't kill you though-**_ _"_

Russell starts screaming as his body is engulfed in a burning agony as what feels like bullets carve into his limbs. "Ow, make it stop! Make it STOP!" He howls in pain.

" _ **Relax, relax! Sav's here!**_ " Sav's uncomforting voice tries to sound reassuring, but all it achieves is sounding like neither.

A thin and tall figure appears on top of him and rolls him to his back. " _ **Calm down, you're not being hurt in real life!**_ "

"It sure FEELS LIKE IT!"Russell wails as the shower of misery doesn't subside. "God, someone, help me!"

The thin figure disappears. He feels reality slipping away and darkness takes over the edges of his vision, eventually covering the entirety of it as he feels life escape him.

He is jolted awake. Taking a deep gasp as he sits back up, he frantically looks around.

"Whoa, where am I!?" Jingles' familiar voice asks.

"Jingles, Jingles!" Russell's joy upon hearing his dear friend's voice is increasing exponentially. "You're back!"

"Back? From what?" Jingles looks around. "Wait, how are you here?"

"What do you mean?" Russell looks at his Ghost questioningly. "I've been here for a few weeks."

"How were you on Earth, then? Overwatch Earth, I mean."

"What?"

The Hunter stands back up, and shakes his head. "Whoa, I feel great, now that you're here!"

"Yeah…same here." Jingles' facets all curve inwards as he thinks. "Huh, this is odd, though. You're on Earth, and here, at the same time."

"I don't follow."

" **I don't follow either, just kidding, I do.** " Sav's voice is behind both of them.

Russell jumps and Jingles starts yelling.

"What is that!?" The construct screams as he hides behind his Guardian. "Kill it!"

" **Wow, that…hurts.** " Sav puts on mock offense. " **Just kidding, that's exactly how I thought you would react.** "

Jingles peeks from Russell's shoulder. "Are you gonna kill it?" He whispers.

"No, _she's_ an…ally."

"That's a she?"

" **Double hurt. I'm offended, Ghost.** " Sav crosses her arms.

"I'm sorry you look like a Hive demoness!" Jingles argues back. Sav wraps one of her hands around her chin.

" **You're not too far off.** "

"RUSSELL, KILL IT!"

" **Don't do that, please.** "

Russell sighs. "Can you two just calm down for a second?"

" **I'm calm, it's your Ghost that's acting crazy.** "

"Maybe because that thing is going to kill me, Russell please!" Jingles' voice is further agitated.

" **I am not.** " Sav sighs. " **Just be quiet, please.** "

Jingles floats tensely beside Russell's head, occasionally shying behind his shoulder.

"Okay, so what's the deal?" The Hunter squints his eyes. "Why is this guy with me now?" He gestures towards his Ghost.

" **It means my plan to take down Cassandra is working.** " Sav says, somewhat smugly.

"You gonna share that plan?" Russell asks. She shakes her head.

" **You're not supposed to know. It'll ruin it.** "

"I think that's a tell-tale sign of a bad plan!" Jingles loudly whispers, probably to offend her.

" **You keep your voice modulator shut.** " Sav snaps. " **You two have fun in here.** "

/

Xiao gasps as she spawns back into reality. Her eyes dart around to see Reaper laying on the floor, a black trail of smoke coming out of him. She makes her way to the corpse, stepping over Russell.

She gives it a good kick. No response. She tries again, and nothing.

"Did…Cassandra kill her?" The Huntress mumbles to herself as she turns the massive terrorist to his back. She kneels down and listens for his breath.

"I'm…I'm not strong enough, for her." Reaper says, barely above a whisper. "I'm good as dead. Tell Russell that I still regret ever bringing him to-"

Reality twists and the man is gone.

Russell jolts himself awake. "Where's Jingles?" He instantly asks.

"I dunno, he's your Ghost." Xiao replies, turning to him.

"I can't feel him…I can't feel the Light." He says, his voice increasingly panicked.

"Russell, calm down."

"No, take me to the portal. I'm going, _right now._ " He demands, his tone twisting in ways she never heard before. "I don't belong here. I belong in _there._ "

"You're talking nonsense, Russell." He stands up with unnatural speed and runs off.

Xiao gets up and chases after him.

They dart through hallways, and he seemingly always had the upper hand on her. This isn't normal.

" _ **Let him go.**_ " A female voice says in her head. It isn't Cassandra, it has a different tonality and a whole new level of cunning. " _ **He's walking straight into her trap.**_ "

"And I'm supposed to let him?" Xiao argues back. "Who are you?"

" _ **Who I am is irrelevant for now, but I'm playing the long game, you'll just have to trust me.**_ " Xiao's fist tightens as she sees Russell turn a corner. " _ **That Russell is a fake.**_ "

"What?"

" _ **You'll see.**_ "

There is a boom from the base's laboratory and then silence.

"Hey, Xiao?" Xiao turns to the origin of Lena's voice. The Brit is leaning against a wall with her arms crossed. "You hearing a voice too?"

"…How would you know that?" The Huntress fixes her a suspicious stare.

"Well, you're talking to yourself, for one." Lena blows a lock of hair from her face, then her expression turns grave. "I can feel we're getting close to the end of this whole thing."

Xiao wants to object, but has an odd feeling that she may be right.

"The voice's name is Sav, by the way." Lena flicks a piece of dust from her Chronal Accelerator. She looks way too nonchalant about a being that can talk to people's minds. "Interesting stuff, the books that come from your world."

"What are you going on about?"

The Brit blinks forward, and her gaze is unwavering. "Xiao, we have to strike soon. Cassandra's planning something big. We have to establish a foothold in her Realm, Sav's counting on it."

"Who's Sav?" Xiao's eyes dart to everywhere.

"The one that's going to lead us to victory."

"Sav…Sav…Savathun?"

"Whatever her real name is."

/

Cassandra watches with renewed interest as the Russell from real Earth throws himself through a portal to her Ascendant Realm, alone.

"Better for me, I guess?" She says as she opens a portal to his location. The Hunter is surprised by her entrance, but a bit too enthusiastic about seeing her. Wasn't he supposed to be her main enemy in all this?

"Cass, you don't know how much I missed you!" He says, bringing his arms wide. His smile is almost manic. "The people on Earth are crazy! They don't see what you're trying to accomplish!"

Cassandra laughs. "Russell, you just handed me victory." Her smile is broad as she gives him a hug.

Her expression drops as soon as she feels him.

"No…" She whispers to herself. "I couldn't have been duped like this."

Her hand is full of ash.

 **Final chapters are approaching.**


	24. Break Away

Russell whistles without a care to the world as he skips across the Ascendant Realm. His mind is absent to his present situation as he celebrates the return of his Ghost. He hops and feet hit each other in the heels, making a clicking sound. His arms reach up and he almost throws himself to the platform on top of him.

A dilapidated church materializes before him. The entire top section of the building is crumbling away and floating in the air, inside looks relatively clean but there is no roof. The spire at the front of the place of prayer is detached and tilted, a white glare coming from the very peak.

Russell doesn't do as much as bat an eye as he walks down the dull red carpet, towards a small wooden stand, about as high as his chest. On it is a tiny, cubic box that automatically opens, and it becomes a source of light that blinds him. He squints and backs his head away, waiting for the shine to disappear.

Once it does, his eyes set on a small ring sporting a circle-shaped purple-blue mineral on top with a note attached to it. The ornament glitters when turned around. Russell inspects the object and attempts to fit it onto his gloved middle finger, pulling off the piece of paper too.

Discovering that the ring did not in fact fit, he pockets it. He sets his attention to the small, hand-written note attached to it.

 _My Dear Russell,_

 _I hope you enjoy the gift, to commemorate our wedding._

"Wedding?" He mutters, confused, he flips the note over to see if there's anything on the back. Upon discovering nothing, he tucks it in and turns around to exit the church.

His joviality is interrupted as a mal-tuned and badly played violin note screeches in front of him. Like someone swiped their nail on a string. He slams his eyes shut and tenses as the air _whooshes_ in front of him. He keeps his eyelids shut as he really does not want to know what could have made that sound.

There is another one of that ghastly sound all around him, and all of a sudden, he feels a lot more trapped than he did a few minutes prior.

"Open your eyes, dear." Cassandra says, her voice laced with annoyance. A soft hand touches the side of Russell's head.

"Are you gonna gouge them out?" Russell quips, then seals his lips as he hears an exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry." He squeaks out.

"Don't make me tell you twice." She says. " _Russell._ "

Something heavy lumbers behind him.

He tentatively separates his eyelids, apprehensive of what might be in front of him. His vision sets upon Cassandra, with a frenzied smile on her face and a deranged energy in her eyes. He notices that there is some chitinous growth on her arms and legs, as if she's turning into a Hive being. "Cass? You alright there?"

Cassandra twitches once, and her smile widens. She takes two quick steps towards him and wraps her arms around Russell's back. He appreciates the sudden embrace, but the surrounding situation is a bit odd, actually, really odd.

"For weeks, months maybe…I thought you weren't real." She mutters. "I've been duped…but finally, it's time. Time for us to be together…forever."

"Uh…" Russell tries to say something but she squeezes him, knocking his breath out of his lungs.

"Isn't it just wonderful, Russ?" Cassandra says, her voice somewhat hysterical. "Just you and me, living the perfect life, with nothing to interrupt!" She squeals.

The Taken Hana Song behind her stomps once, as if it's impatient and waiting for this to be over.

"That…that sounds great…I guess?" Russell uncertainly says. Cassandra pulls out of the embrace and holds him by the shoulders. Her eyes bore into his, and the stare is getting quite uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong? Do you need to say something first?" She asks, her speech wavering. It sounds like she's about to cry. "Did you lose…" She shakes her head.

"No, that can't be possible." She firmly says. "You're coming with me."

"Er-" Russell looks upwards as a white streak going upwards catches his attention. "…Behind you." He mumbles, almost silent.

Cassandra looks behind her, then upwards. "Oh no-"

The white streak is coming downwards at high-speed velocity and crashes with a great boom that knocks everything away.

"I had to use ALL of my Transcendent Blessings because of you." A growling, and very angry voice exclaims. "ALL OF THEM!" The man yells.

A Titan rises from the pool of Arc energy and wields a very scary looking Dust Rock Blues. The one eye on his mask is glowing white and fury emanates from his body. He turns towards Cassandra, who looks at him unimpressed.

"You. You will pay for this-oogh!" He snarls, then is knocked to the side by the Taken D'Va. "Okay, you're second priority for now…" He mutters then gets on his feet before he gets crushed by the bipedal mech.

"Deal with him." Cassandra scoffs, siccing her Abyssal Champions on the lone Guardian. She turns to Russell with a gracious smile. "Come on, let's go."

A portal opens up behind him.

Russell hesitates, as he watches the man fight for his life. "…Crow?" He tilts his head and observes.

Cassandra pushes him into a lush green forest. He stumbles to his back, into foliage that sticks on his clothes. At least, seem like they're sticking, as they disappear moments after. He takes a breath of too-pure, unnatural air.

The Warlock steps through and lifts him up through some unknown force. She grins as he is forcibly brought to her, into kissing distance. She wraps her hands around one of his and holds him gently, slowly swaying them side-to-side in the air. She then brings his palm to the back of her head, lightly grazing her soft hair.

"I love you." She says, her eyes closing for a quick moment. Her pupils change color, to an emerald green. They glow unnaturally. "This is all I've wanted, everything I've asked for. You." She says, then brings his hand to be touching her heart. She does the same with her free one.

"I can feel your Light…" She whispers. "Can you…feel mine?" She smiles and brushes her hand downwards.

"I-I…" Russell is paralyzed in fear as he watches his love gradually turn into something he doesn't recognize. He sees a dark energy surround the both of them, which seems to correlate with the white leaking upwards from her eyes. "I can't."

"What?"

There is a crash and the sound of glass breaking from above. A Vex Mind with its claws pushing into themselves attempts to split the two, an orb forming in between.

Cassandra struggles with her eyes shut, her face trembling. She snarls, and her eyes slam open. She lets Russell go, opting to reach for a white glimmering crystal behind her back. She raises it in the air and a white power exudes from the object, a white beam shooting right into the Vex Mind, repelling it.

There is a robotic shriek as Quria is pushed upwards, back through the hole it carved, but not before roping Russell in with metal tentacles and yanking him with it. He screams in fear as his hands instinctively reach out for Cassandra, who attempts to grab him but to no success.

Russell finds himself in darkness, and suddenly lands on dirt. He catches his breath and holds himself up using his palms. The Axis Mind appears before him, and is sparking. Its single eye twitches and it looks like it can barely hold itself floating.

" **Quria in inoperable condition. Must retreat.** " It says, before withdrawing into obscurity and disappearing. " **Best of luck.** " Is the last thing Russell hears before the world goes quiet, as if Quria hadn't existed.

He looks around, and the Ace of Spades drops from the sky. "Haven't seen you in a while." He mutters, then brings out his Ghost.

Jingles' single eye is wide and his facets are all pushed towards the back, accompanying the wide-eye look he's giving. "Holy shi-crap. That was an experience."

"She sucked a bit of your Light out from you, and is holding it in that crystal she pulled out to fight Quria. It shouldn't affect your abilities as far as I know." The Ghost says, shuddering. "Oogh, I feel weird. Come on, let's go before she sends anything after us."

"What about Crow?"

"He's holding fine." Jingles says, dismissively. There is a lion's roar as Taken blights from around Russell. "Here they come!"

He twirls Ace in his hand and grins as he puts a single round in a Taken Thrall, making its head explode. He then discards the cylinder and replaces it with a glowing one. His head snaps downwards as he hears something attempt to bash him from behind, then spins around and kicks the shield of a Taken Phalanx away, putting a bullet inside the white dot in its head, making it detonate in a modest burst of fire.

Russell feels the Void course through his body as he rolls backwards, temporarily going invisible. He really does hate using everything else other than Solar Light, but with the amount of things wanting to kill him right now it's best to switch. He giggles as the Taken all look around confused, then reappears behind a Goblin and grabs its neck, kicking its torso to separate it from its neck. He uses the body part and flings it over to a Captain.

He rolls again to dodge one of the Captain's hurled balls of Darkness and fires three rounds. Two for its shield and the third for the kill.

The Thrall take notice of his position and start rushing him in great numbers. He reacts by loading a new cylinder and firing as fast as a 140 RPM hand cannon can shoot, hitting five heads and then jumping upwards to throw down a Void grenade, seeing in satisfaction the fragile monsters die running into it.

Russell snaps his head to the direction of a barely hearable _zip_ sound and sees Tracer unload her akimbo pistols into a Taken Vandal, reverting to her original position right after. She gives him a cocky smile and a finger salute.

"Catch!" She says, throwing a small blue orb at him. He realizes it is beeping and sticks it to the thing about to send him flying off, that being a Taken Phalanx. "Nice!"

Russell smirks as he sees the woman jump into battle with surprising grace. She ducks a swing from a Minotaur and blinks through its legs, discharging her energy weapons into its back before leaping onto its head, bashing it in with the grips of her pistols.

He is too enthralled by the petite Brit to notice the hand on his shoulder.

"Boo!" Sombra says, making him jump. She giggles afterwards once he's calmed down.

"Sombra? The Hell are you doing down here?" Russell asks as he kicks down another Thrall and ends it right there.

Sombra twirls her Uzi and kills goes invisible, throwing down a minuscule glowing pad underneath her and running off somewhere. She turns up behind a Taken Centurion, catching one of Tracer's Pulse Bombs and sticking it right into its back. She teleports back to her first spot, beside Russell.

"How'd you like that?" She grins, crossing her arms. Her SMG is dangling from one hand.

"That was…pretty cool." Russell has a lopsided smile as he tucks away his hand cannon, once checking the area is clear. "Late to the party though."

Sombra scoffs. "Please, I showed up _just_ in time." She lightly slaps him in the back. "So, you're the real Russell, then? Sure look better than that depressed mess in the real world."

"There was a fake me?" He cocks his head to the side and thinks.

"That's what I'm being told, and I don't doubt it."

"Shit, how was he?" Russell puts a hand on his hip.

"Bit of a downer." Tracer buts in. She takes off her orange goggles. "So good to see you not miserable!" Her arms reach outwards. Russell can't help but hug.

Jingles appears. "Well, we'll all be miserable if we _don't_ move." He says.

"Right, let's go."

/

" _Tracer to Overwatch Strike Leader! We have made confirmed contact with HVT!_ " A walkie-talkie vibrates as Lena's voice comes through from it. It's an old device, good quality though, it was made by Suraya Hawthorne. It was also the only thing Xiao had on hand for Mac to jerry-rig a functioning transmitter for Lena and Sombra, the two agents going after Russell right now.

Xiao wondered if it was a bad idea sending two mortal soldiers, but her fears are now put away as she hears the message. She grabs the radio device. "Roger that, return safe. Over and out."

"Copy, repeat, return safe? Over." Lena can be heard giggling.

"Confirmed." Xiao puts down the walkie-talkie and opens a comms link to Crow. "Crow, how are you doing!"

A shotgun cracking, and boots grinding on ground. "I'm getting my ass kicked here! Help, please!"

"Understood, I'm sending Edgar over." She nods to the Warlock next to her, and he takes off running.

Xiao scratches her head and smirks as she looks at the holo-map that is progressively adding more detail to the plan of Cassandra's Ascendant Realm.

Everything is going to plan.

There is a whoosh behind her. She turns around to see a dark and slim figure that resembles a taller version of a Hive Thrall. The figure puts a hand on its hip. Xiao inches her hand to her waist.

" **Calm down, it's me, Sav.** " The thing says, flicking her head to the side, as if she had any hair. " **Welcome to the Ascendant Realm. I'm assuming things are in motion?** "

Xiao nods, and exhales. "Everything's perfect. We've got Russell in tow, and Crow's engaged in a fight with a girl in a walking mech."

" **I'll pretend that I know who Crow is.** " Sav pauses, and looks upward in thought. " **Good, good. I'll keep in touch.** " She mumbles.

The figure opens a portal behind her, and steps in.

Xiao brings out her Ghost. "Mac, any updates on the real world?"

The construct tilts. "I'm getting reports of the Vanguard sending reinforcements. Calus has been in contact, too."

"Calus? As in the Cabal emperor?" She looks at Mac confused. "Why would he be talking to us?"

"He says he's being benevolent." The Ghost replies. "He's willing to send a few of his Shadows in, and by that, he means the Guardians that killed Val Ca'our a while back."

"Ah." She pushes air out of her nose, making a small sound. "We're fine for now, deny the request."

"Are you sure? Some help won't hurt us."

"They have enough problems at home." Xiao affirms, before waving her Ghost off.

She takes the moment of pure silence to think about her next move.

There is a _zip!_ as Lena blinks behind her.

"Tracer, reporting for duty!" She says, as Xiao turns around. Her posture is straight and she is stuck in a salute, smiling widely.

"Me too." Russell says, as he appears behind her, then bends over, panting. "Christ this woman is fast…"

"Where's Sombra?" Xiao looks around.

"Over here." The hacker waves from another floating platform. " _Mierda_ these two can run!"

Xiao chuckles. "Welcome back, you three. Now, we can't rest just yet." She looks over to the holo-map. Everyone gathers around it.

"Crow and Edgar are engaged versus a certain Hana Song over here." She points towards a red floating blip, surrounded by two yellow circles. "We have reason to believe that Cassandra resides up here." Her finger moves upwards and goes towards a high-point on the map, where a skull is floating above.

"There are a few zones of interest that I need you three to clear out before we go after the big fish in the pond." She circles a few areas in varying positions. "Lena, you're assigned here." She taps on a library. Lena Oxton's picture appears above it.

Russell's brows furrow. "Actually…let me go there." He says.

"Not so fast, you and I need to have a little chat." Xiao crosses her arms and shoots him a quick glance, before looking down at the map again. "Now Sombra…"

"I'll go with Tracer."

"Alright." The Huntress says, not wanting to bother arguing with the hacker.

The three start to go to their assigned destinations. "Russell." The Hunter turns and sighs.

/

Crow charges head-on into the Taken Hana Song, or D'Va, or whatever people called this shit stain operating a black and pink mech. His Arc energy clashes with her dark magic and it sends them both backwards.

" _Crow, duck!_ " He does what Edgar says and crouches down, narrowly avoiding an arc of fire tracking Hana Song's position. The burst of flame scorches the mech's visor and leaves the operator blind for a few seconds. " _Now's your time!_ "

Crow backs up and wields his Hoosegow-XE5987, floating backwards as he aims in on the pilotable robot. Pressing the trigger, he watches a yellow-white orb of explosives and misery run straight into the machine's body.

Only to see the rocket get absorbed by some trapezoid field from the mech and _launched back at him._ He's a sitting duck up in the air and gets struck in the face, sending him to the ground. The cluster bombs compound his misery as his body is shredded to pieces, his Ghost appearing on top of his remains. Edgar lands behind it and pulls a revive in a few seconds, before flying to the side as white-hot fusion pellets were pelting him.

Crow puts down a shield barricade, giving momentary respite from any potential damage, before shaking himself off and loading another rocket in his launcher. He waits for D'Va to be turned away before strafing to the right and taking aim. He sends another package of flaming pain to the Taken mech. It stumbles forward as the detonation batters it with extra tiny explosions.

The Titan ducks as the mech charges him, feeling his back getting scorched by its fusion motors and grimacing in pain. He yelps as Edgar jumps off of his shoulder and his face takes root into the dirt. Sputtering, he coughs out a few particles that bypassed his casque's filter. His hands push him upwards and he grabs onto the Taken mech's leg, flying upwards with it.

The pilot notices this and starts clobbering Crow's face with a gun arm's shoulder, a high-pitched squeak coming from her every time she lands a hit.

With the fury of a million Arc generators, he returns with a punch of his own, sending one of the mech's arms falling into the void below. He snarls and starts crawling his way to its front, intending to turn someone's face into something like Riven's after her eyes were all poked out.

Crow screams as he starts punching through the mech's glass, his vision tinted crimson red. Inside, Hana Song smirks and flips over the cover of a button to her left.

"Nerf this!" She says, her voice distorted as she presses down on the button and ejects from her MEKA.

"Uh oh." Crow blurts out as he sees a white sphere slowly consuming the mech and the vehicle violently shaking as a hum coming from it starts going higher in pitch. He pushes back and shields his face as there is a massive white explosion that can shake planets to the core.

His body slams to the ground.

/

"Crow, you idiot." Edgar mutters as he holds the Taken Hana Song by the collar. The tiny woman is struggling under his grip, and he's entirely surprised that that giant mech self-destruction was her only move. "Now what to do with you…"

One side of his lips curl up as he feels a peak of Light from within. "Oh, I know." He grins as he raises one hand in the air, and a broadsword with a shining Light materializes in it.

He drops Hana Song and holds her down using his boot. His arms raise in the air as his sword points downwards.

A swift stab into the little woman's head makes it explode, and her body dissipates. A golden pool of Light with the radius about his height appears on the ground, and two orbs drop from the blade embedded into the ground.

A circle green-accented rune appears in the air and out comes the actual Hana Song, posing as she's hanging off of a cross. She falls down and incoherently mumbles whilst curling up into a fetal position.

Edgar kneels down and gently shakes her shoulder. "Hey, little girl, we gotta move."

Hana doesn't move, instead starting to rock back and forth, then begins to sob. "I don't want to go back…" She mutters.

Edgar sighs in exasperation and picks her up, carrying her bridal style while she cries into his shoulder. "There, there, you're free now."

He is slightly displeased that there is now a salty stain on his cloak.

* * *

 **Next chapter is the finale. Been a wild ride.**


	25. Shining Light

The two Hunters sit across from each other, separated by a holo-map that had blue, red, yellow and green shapes dotted all over. Russell sits on a holographic chair and is leaning forward with his fingers locked together. Xiao sits in a relaxed manner, one foot tapping at a constant, slow pace.

"So." She begins, and stands up, slowly making her way towards Russell _through_ the holo-map. She steps in her usual cattish way but the aura surrounding her feels a lot less harsh than normal. "I've been arguing with a simulation this entire time."

Russell chuckles and scratches the back of his head. "I guess so. I'm Strike Commander of Overwatch, now?" He smirks and taps his knee. "when I mentioned I wanted to become Hunter Vanguard, I didn't mean this."

Xiao closes the distance between them, and looks down on him. She softly puts her hand on his shoulder, her fingertips barely touching him. "Quit looking at my stomach, first of all." She says, making him look up. "Second, stand up, we need to have an _actual_ talk."

Russell stands up and gazes into her eyes. He backs away one step. "If it's about Cassandra…I know."

She sighs. "I'm scared that it's gonna be hard on you. I can't imagine losing a loved one as close as she was to you twice."

A tear forms in one of his eyes, and he can only laugh at the absurdity of the situation. "I enjoyed my time with her. The actual her would want me to pull the trigger."

Xiao holds his shoulder a bit tighter, and lightly shakes him. "I'm sorry it came to this." She says, no genuine emotion breaking through.

He slams his eyes shut, and clenches one fist.

 _She's just saying this to ease the pain,_ he thinks. "Don't worry about it." He lets loose a shaky breath. "I know you really don't care about my feelings."

Xiao steps back and gasps. "Russell!"

"Please, just don't bother." He mumbles, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'm fine."

She sighs. "I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything."

"I know it's hard but-"

"Please, just shut up."

Two pairs of footsteps landing grab their attention. Crow and Edgar stand there, the latter carrying a teenage woman over his shoulder.

The Titan takes great strides and puffs his chest up as he makes his way to Xiao. "Objective accomplished!" He says, proudness dripping from his lips. He drops the act a second later, and starts hysterically laughing. "That was incredibly stupid, I'm sorry."

"Broke the mood, thanks." Russell mumbles as a water bottle materializes in his hand, and he takes a sip from it after unscrewing the cap. "Titan antics…"

"Hey, Russell's back! Is it the real one?" Crow asks, slapping Russell in the shoulder, making him stumble to the side. "Feels real."

"Thanks for making sure, but yes, I am very real." The Hunter says, doing a short bow. "My head's killing me, though."

"If you're the real Russell Dulk…then I think you can handle this." A hand cannon materializes on the Titan's hand. "Your fake counterpart built…this."

When Russell set his eyes on the weapon, he jumped back and looked disgusted. "I, well not really I, made _that?_ "

Jingles materializes, the Ghost chuckling sheepishly. "Half drunk and very salty. He told the story about your Luna's-"

He immediately grabs the weapon and points it at the construct. "Now you don't even mention that!"

"Whoa! I'm sorry!" Jingles exclaims as he banks downwards and hides between Russell's legs. "You spilled it to Sombra!"

"I did?"

"You did!"

"In a miserable state, might I add!" Russell hurls the gun at Jingles and ends up throwing it off of the platform they were on. "Whoa! You're just gonna throw that out?"

"Yeah, I don't like it." The Hunter mumbles and looks down to the void below. "I might have regretted that decision."

"What's done is done!" Edgar buts in and puts down the woman, then rolls his shoulder. "Now what do we do with this girl!"

"Not a girl." Hana Song snaps back. "Fully grown adult." She says, annoyed.

Edgar scoffs. "Please."

"Just because you can do space magic doesn't mean you get to be all condescending!"

"…Space magic?" Crow asks.

"Isn't that what you guys…do? You know, with the self-missile technique and fire-sword-from-nowhere thing?" She waves her arms around as she talks.

Crow raises a finger, then puts it down. "Sure, let's go with that. Space magic, I like it."

"Crow, don't be so stupid, she's clearly still in shock!" Edgar practically yells out, pointing at the seated teenager, who doesn't look very phased. "We just un-took her twenty minutes ago!"

"Are you always such an asshole?" Hana squints and stands herself up on wobbly feet.

" _What?_ " Edgar asks, fire burning out of his hand. "Little lady, you best take that back."

"And you'll do what about it?" She _hmphs_ and crosses her arms, looking away. "You can kill me, that'd be better than having to breath the same air you do."

The Warlock can barely restrain himself as his pride is viciously attacked by a teenager only three quarters his size. He exhales. "Crow, deal with her." He spins and takes a few steps.

"What makes you think I can deal with her if you can't?" Crow asks as he looks at Hana worried.

"You don't need to worry about me, you're _cool_."

"I'm cool?"

Russell groans. "Kids, and that's including you too Crow-"

"I'm not a _kid!_ " Hana interjects.

"Okay, okay, whatever. We're getting off track, Xiao, what's the plan?" He turns around and looks around. "Xiao?"

The Huntress is nowhere to be seen.

/

Cassandra twirls a piece of the Darkness in between her fingers, watching with interest as the fragment stretches and closes on itself, as if it was fighting something inside. She summons it away and closes her fist, then exhales.

Her Taken Servitor, quite possibly the only thing she has left, hovers daintily and does slow, deliberate paces back and forth. Its eye blinks, then it turns to her.

" **A gift. From your lovely.** " It says, then a hand cannon drops to her lap. She picks it up and inspects it, her bare thumb smoothing over the rough texture, and pokes the jagged edge at the barrel.

"A Thorn?" Cassandra ponders out loud, grasping her palm around the grip, feeling it morph into the perfect shape for her hand. She flicks it to the left and the cylinder slides out. Her interest in the weapon dwindles and she stashes it at her waist. "That's what…it was working on?"

She shakes her head as she puts away the thought of her being duped so easily from her mind. She takes a shaky breath and rests her hands on the armrests of her throne.

" **They are preparing an assault.** " The Servitor says, in a matter-of-fact tone. She flicks her hand in the air in a dismissive manner. " **I feel it would be best if you would prepare. Your…lovely will be present.** "

Cassandra snorts. "Of course, he would." She bitterly says. "When they do strike, I want him isolated."

" **The Gatekeeper Wizards will be informed.** "

"Good, then let them come." She sighs again. "Bring me a Thrall."

" **For what purpose, may I inquire?** "

"I need a moment to vent, take out all the bad emotions."

" **Ah. Very well.** " A second later, a very confused looking Thrall appears on top of a green rune a yard in front of looks to be young, with no indications of any growth to an Acolyte yet. It looks around dazed, and turns its attention to her before scrambling to kneel.

"Do away with the formalities, and come close. Sit down over here." She beckons the being with her finger, and it obeys, sitting cross-legged a foot away from her throne. "Tell me, Thrall, are you aware of what passes in a human's head when they experience great loss?"

It shakes its head, and says that it hasn't really thought about it.

"Rhetorical question, but I'll explain." She shifts forward and puts her arms on her thighs, putting her hands together.

It nods slowly and looks at her attentively. Then ponders in excitement about what its queen is about to tell it, and how it would put itself as superior to its peers.

Cassandra laughs. "So…it begins when two humans find each other attractive, when they're enamored by one another's physical appearance." She pauses and looks up, asking herself if she forgot anything. "When they're attracted to each other, the first goal is to…have fun together, as in mating."

The Thrall asks if it's to reproduce and make great offspring.

"No, not yet. Like I said, if you were listening, it's for fun."

The Thrall asks what fun is.

"That's besides the point, now listen." Cassandra hisses, making it snap its back straight in fear, of course fearing death. "Anyways, past the initial attraction phase, comes the phase of 'if they can live together'."

The Thrall nods in half-understanding, and shrugs.

"They can either hate each other…" She pauses to wait for a question.

The Thrall inquires as to how that could be.

"Things happen, and their love gets solidified when they figure out their differences, and come to accept and appreciate them." She says. "Are you aware of who I love?"

The Thrall doesn't.

"Well, it's a Guardian."

It tilts its head in confusion, and asks why.

"It's complicated. We were supposed to be together, forever. I did all of… _this_ for him, and he doesn't understand any of it, refuses to believe because he's so stuck up with his foolish Light and Traveler that he outright denies me, can you believe it!?" She snarls in frustration, and slams her hand down, sending a tremor that makes the Thrall jump. "Observe! Everything I've built was for him! The pact I've made with Xol, all for naught!" She yells into empty air, then lashes out at the Thrall, killing it in one fell swoop.

She sighs once looking at what used to be a Thrall.

"Call another, about as young as that one."

" **Very well.** " Her Servitor says.

She would finish her explanation, no matter how many useless Thrall it took.

. . .

 _An hour later…_

Cassandra crushes yet another Hive into the ground, watching it crumple up like a pile of paper and discarding it like one.

"Why do they all ask so many questions!?" She bellows out into the void, stomping once and carving a small crater inside the bone-like substance under her. "I need something that doesn't ask any questions!"

She grits her teeth and swings a fist in the air, small amounts of pent-up anger being released in the gesture. She then sighs and slumps onto her throne. A small recording device materializes in her palm, and she grips it tightly.

Bringing it to face level, she hums in thought at it. "This'll do…I guess." She mumbles.

Sighing, she presses the red button labelled 'RECORD' and throws down the device.

"So…where do I begin? Russell, I'm sorry things have lead to this, just know that I always have you in mind every time I do something…" She sighs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…I can't say it enough, everything's a disaster because of me. Funny, really, normally it was you that caused all the disasters, but we managed to overcome them every time, but _Traveler_ forbid I cause something." She hisses the name of the deity that gifts the Light.

"Russell… _I love you, and nothing in the universe will change that._ Whether it be Worm Gods or Hive magic, you'll always have a place in my heart." She starts sobbing at the ridiculousness of her speech, Russell was the type to deliver these over-the-top gushes of emotion, but fate brought her to this, and here she is confessing her emotions into a rectangular tablet about the size of her palm. "I hope you understand this…even though you probably don't feel the same anymore, and that's what hurts me, how we can be torn apart so ruthlessly and how love tears away like a frayed rope."

Cassandra takes a moment to cry.

"You know…you could compare fate to a frayed rope. You pull on it and it slowly breaks apart." She comes to a revelation.

"I should have stayed dead, now I'm forced into all this…Taken stuff." She chuckles. "Well, that's what I get, I guess. I still have that Quickfang you gifted me a long time ago, I still appreciate it, you know? Thanks for the Thorn by the way. Anyways, you're probably getting bored with this, so I'll cut to the chase. Stay alive. As soon as you put your hand on this thing, you'll be teleported to me, so I can see you one last time, please just do this for me before I lose my mind to the Darkness."

She gently steps on the record button and stops the recording. Her fingers swirl and a green energy transfer from her hand to the device. Then she takes the object and tosses it in the air, for her Servitor to catch.

"Deliver this to a Lightbearer, no matter how hard it tries to kill you, and even if it does, well, that doesn't matter, does it?" She puts on a fake smirk and brandishes a Quickfang.

She has a meeting with a certain Worm God.

/

Xiao pinches the bridge of her nose.

 _Inhale, exhale._ She thinks to herself as her exhale prolongs a second longer than her inhale. _Calm down, Russell's just a bit emotional right now._

"Stupid, stupid idiot!" She blurts out to no one, then groans. "Fuck, what's wrong with me!?"

"I shouldn't have talked to him in the first place, great going Xiao!" She throws her hand in the air and lets it fall to her side. "Why did I try in the first place!"

Her palm smashes into her forehead and she starts rambling nothings to herself. "I definitely hurt his feelings, fuck, Russell, I'm sorry!"

If only she has to strength to say it to him in person.

She slaps herself in the face and rubs her eyes.

"Xiao! Holy shit, how'd you get here!?" She pales upon hearing Russell's voice behind her, and snaps her head in that direction. "Fuck, did I say something wrong!?"

He bends over with his hands on his knees, panting. Xiao opens her mouth but he reaches out a finger pointed upwards, indicating to her that he needs a few seconds.

"Damn, you ran _far!_ " Russell exclaims as he catches his breath. "Holy shit I knew you were good at covering distance in Crucible but _god damn!_ "

"I absolutely hate that you're so cheerful all the damn time." Xiao mutters. "I guess it's part of your charm."

"Hold on…what?" He asks. "I don't think now's the time to discuss about me."

"I despise you, you know that, right? _Loathe_ is a better word."

"Uh-"

"With how you dragged me and my fireteam into this whole mess, you need to give me a good reason to not pummel the shit out of you right now."

"Xiao, um-"

"Fucking idiot, you are, I hope you keep that in mind, since nobody's told you yet."

"Xiao."

"And the one time I try to sympathize-"

"XIAO."

"WHAT!?"

"Look up."

Xiao looks straight and sees a massive Taken Servitor with translucent tentacles floating out of it hovering in front of her. "What the-"

"Kill it?" Russell asks.

"Yeah, let's kill it first." She agrees.

The Servitor apparently hears them speak and screeches, its tentacles extending. They make a sideways arc shape on both sides, with the tips pointing forward.

Russell makes the first move and reaches into the air, a Golden Gun appearing in his palm. He takes aim and the Celestial Nighthawk helmet materializes on his head. He glances to her.

"Hold on a second." Xiao says as she pulls a bow from the Void and shoots an arrow to the Servitor, then follows up with a few more, managing to fire five before her ability ran out. "Now!" She cries and throws down a smoke bomb between the two and turning them both invisible.

Russell lets out a battle cry as he fires a single shot from his Golden Gun, straight into the Servitor's only eye. It flinches and jabs him with a tentacle, sending him tumbling to the side before spawning a Blight that is a fraction of its size to its left.

A white beam linking the Servitor and the Blight gives a glossy white sheen to the Servitor, rendering it invulnerable to any damage dealt to it.

"Focus on the Blight! I'll distract it!" Xiao cries out as she narrowly dodges a swipe to her legs from a tentacle, rolling to the side. "Damnit, it sees me!"

Her invisibility wears off and she grabs Malfeasance _,_ making sure to fire a few rounds before moving again. She draws a Vortex grenade and attempts to fling it at the beast, only to have her hand be snagged.

"Damn!" She exclaims as she struggles against the unending strength the Servitor carried. She is lifted in the air and something slimy wraps around her neck, quickly crushing her windpipe as she feels reality slip away from her.

"Xiao!" Is all she hears before she dies, and her Ghost appears at the edge of the platform they were on.

/

Russell swears to himself as he sees Xiao's Ghost materialize in the edge of his peripheral vision. He curses the sight of the bright-blue aura formed by the separation of the construct's facets.

Rolling to the right, he approaches the Ghost and lets out a few shots from Ace, before his attention is taken by the collective lion roars that are made when Taken are spawning in.

He throws down an Incendiary Grenade below one of the Blights and headshots a Thrall as soon as it appears, making its head explode in a burst of Solar energy. He loads a fresh glowing cylinder into his hand cannon a second after to activate Memento Mori. Using the fresh damage boost from the first five shots, he takes down a Taken Knight in three, then uses the last two rounds to kill two Taken Phalanxes.

A Taken Goblin gives invincibility to an invisible Minotaur. Russell targets the former first before dodging as soon as the latter attempts to whack him in the face with its arm. He throws a knife to the small glowing white eye on its head and unloads two rounds into its head.

He twirls his gun vertically and loads a fresh cylinder, flicking the weapon to its side to prime it. He cocks the hammer back and lets it clang as it looks like it has a mind of its own when the barrel seamlessly flicks from enemy to enemy after every bullet ejected.

Russell tackles a Shadow Thrall to the floor, struggling with the fragile being for a second before crushing its head with his boot, quickly sliding backwards to evade a shield bash from a Taken Phalanx.

His eyes are blinded by the shine of Xiao's Ghost and he reaches out for it, sharing his Light to accelerate her revive process, before the Huntress jumps in with a bright glow to her that lasts for a few seconds.

Xiao cracks her neck and rolls her shoulders before drawing her weapon.

"Spider sends his regards!" Crow's voice cracks through their comms as a Fallen Walker drops in and crushes a dozen or so Taken before taking aim with its main gun at the Servitor. "Invincibility orb, please!"

Russell deals with the Blight and shudders as the Walker fires a shell of Arc misery at the Servitor's single eye. Its six feet, three on both side of its chassis like a spider start shuffling to evade the enemy's tentacle but is far too slow to react and is almost knocked to its back. The Fallen machine charges up, its main chassis and legs stretching up a bit before slamming back to the ground, creating a shockwave around it, while the sounds of its mechanisms grinding together sounded.

"This is awesome!" Hana Song yells out from within the Walker.

"How exactly did she get on our comms?" Xiao asks.

"Question for later, Xiao." The front part of the Fallen Walker, where it would normally reveal its exposed orange heated weak spot, opened to a cockpit with Crow and Hana huddled up within. The Titan hops out and jumps off the tank's frame to propel himself as he did his signature Thundercrash on the Servitor.

"He's doing it again!" Hana pumps a fist in the air and cheers as Crow hits the Servitor like a dart and jumps back, unphased. She fistbumps the Titan as he hops back into the Walker and the piece of metal that covered the cockpit slides back in.

The tank charges another shot, and Russell scoops the orbs of Light that Crow dropped. He draws another Golden Gun in the air and synchronizes the timing of his hyper-powered bullet with the Walker's.

A combination of Solar and Arc put the Servitor down and it explodes in a giant mess of black goop. A small rectangular object pops out from it, landing in Russell's hand.

A sudden flash of white, and he is no longer in a creepy dark realm, instead in a creepier _Hive_ throne room.

Russell lets the device drop and looks at Cassandra, his mouth agape. Her fallen Quickfang has a green blood dripping off of it, and the Warlock is sitting atop her throne, one foot tapping, as if she was expecting him.

"Hey." She says, and Russell raises the Ace of Spades at her. She laughs at him. "I knew you would do that." Her wrist flicks and the weapon is yanked from his grip, settling itself a good few feet to his left.

"Come close." Cassandra beckons, curling her index finger in and out. "Please, it's been a rough day."

"For all of us, yeah." Russell snorts as he stands there, his posture leaning forward a bit and his general posture aggressive. "You could've told me you were keeping me in a simulation." He seethes out, one hand balling up.

She rolls her eyes. "Please, if you were in my position, you would have done the exact same thing." She sighs. "This was all for you, Russell. This is what undying love does to a person."

Russell chuckles. "I guess it does. If only I knew…I'm a fool."

Cassandra smiles. "You were my fool, though. I loved you because of your bumbling idiocy."

"I'm sorry it has to end this way."

"I'm the one that should be sorry, for putting you through all this. For-" She gasps as a Light-imbued bullet is driven through her stomach. The wound disappears soon after. "Rude."

"Before we fight…" She bites her inner-cheek. "Do you still love me?"

"I...don't want to answer that." Russell says.

Cassandra looks downwards in shame before taking a deep breath. She assumes a battle-ready pose and gestures for him to come at her.

His enflamed body is extinguished as he cracks his knuckles, and twists his neck, hearing a satisfying pop.

"Alright, let's go." He mumbles as he takes a few tentative steps closer, and they both wait at a standstill, the one expecting the other to strike first.

Cassandra rushes him with ungodly swiftness and strikes him in the chest. "I don't want to win this fight, Russell. Please, I don't want to see you die-" He punches her in cheek.

There is a buzzing noise in his ear. " _Russell—Sombra's down—what is tha-_ " He ignores the voice and throws himself at her once more, reaching for her neck and drawing his knife, intent on gouging her throat out.

She parries and pushes his hands to the side, pushing her knee into his stomach before shoving him off. She smirks. "Come on, I want a better fight." She taunts.

Russell grimaces under the Celestial Nighthawk and charges forward once more, punching upwards in a burst of Arc energy as his knuckles collide with her chin. She barely recoils and only steps back to grab his arm and throw her over herself.

"Diversifying your ability pool, I see?" Cassandra asks as dark energy swirls in her palm. "I like it."

Russell groans as he feels something eating at him from within. "You fuck…cheater." He falls over unconscious.

/

"Alright, no time to explain, you see that woman?" Sombra's new Ghost flicks around and leans towards a woman in bony-looking armor kneeling over a young man being consumed by some sort of aura.

Everything leading up to this point has been a blur, but the Ghost managed to fill in a bit of the gaps. Apparently she died in battle and was immediately revived by this thing, then it set a goal for her to kill whoever this person is.

She hadn't even unlocked a majority of her abilities, but she was pretty good at summoning a flaming gun from nothing and shooting burning lead at whoever she wanted.

Sombra's brows furrow as she tries to find any weak spots this woman could have, but finds none.

"Might not be a good idea…" She mumbles.

"Oh nonsense, you'll do fine!" The Ghost nudges her forward.

The woman's head snaps to her.

"…You?" She says, a bit of astonishment in her voice. "How did you…?"

There is a light-blue blur behind the woman and then a few high-pitched beeps, followed by a short explosion.

A woman named Lena Oxton is grabbed by the neck as she attempts to revert to her original position.

"Not so fast." The woman says.

"Bollocks." Lena says. "Cass, please, you're being unreasonable."

"It's always me being unreasonable, huh?" 'Cass' snorts and throws Lena aside, putting her boot to her neck. "Last words?"

" _ **Okay, change of plans, you see the guy laying down? Shoot him, I've tuned your Light.**_ "

" _ **What? Okay.**_ "

Sombra reaches into the air and a Golden Gun spawns in her palm, instead of the regular orange she saw maybe a few times, it was instead a golden yellow that shone brightly. She trains the weapon and fires all three shots into the unconscious man.

There is no reaction.

"Uh oh." Sombra says out loud as her eyes widen under Cass' questioning stare.

"Now what was the point of that?" She says, removing her foot from Lena's throat and stepping towards Sombra.

Cass closes the distance between the two in a second and she presses Sombra up to an invisible barrier, using some sort of telekinetic ability. She feels her throat constricting.

The man that was laying down a few seconds ago is suddenly slowly rising up and is wielding a massive looking Golden Gun in his hand. His gun arm is outstretched upwards and there is a glaring light coming from the weapon's barrel, accompanied by a high-pitched humming.

His eyes glow completely yellow and his arm moves downwards, pointing his revolver at Cass.

"Be…hind…you." Sombra barely manages to rasp out.

Cass turns around and is immediately obliterated. Her body is charred and she is crushed into the ground.

Sombra falls down wheezing beside her and stumbles her way standing.

"Did I do it?" She asks her Ghost.

"I think you did, now let's get out of here."

"What about them?"

"We're gonna bring them along."

/

 _Days later…_

Russell's eyes snap open, and his visual senses are overpowered by blinding white light from fixtures all around him.

His back snaps up straight and he tears off a few tubes attached to him, freeing his movement up a bit.

"What the-" He mumbles as he looks at himself, all burned up and injured. "What…?"

Jingles appears in front of him. "Whoo! It's done, baby! She's gone!"

An oddly joyful electronic music that reminded Russell of crabs started playing.

"I was for sure dead there, what happened?" He asks, confused.

"She happened!" Jingles turns towards Sombra, who's sleeping in a chair on the other side of the medical bed. "She super-powered your Light and you went full Calus-on-Val-Ca'our on her!"

"What? I'm-I'm not following."

"You shot her in the back!"

"Ah."

Russell slumps back down on his bed. "Guess that's over." He mutters.

"Yes, it is, now we can go back to a normal Guardian life!" Jingles says, excitedly.

"I'm gonna need some time off, and by some I mean a _lot._ "

"Consider it granted, Guardian." Ikora's voice makes him jump. "You've done well, considering the weight on your shoulders." The Warlock Vanguard stands straight and looks at him with a small smile.

"Thanks…I guess, but what about…her?" Russell points to Sombra.

"She has been informed and has went through official channels to be incorporated into the system. A fine Hunter, she'll be, although I am not one to decide on that." Ikora stops herself. "We'll see how she fares."

"Please do, I'm in no mood to be tutoring anyone." Russell groans and his chest rises, then falls.

Ikora chuckles. "She's been assigned to Xiao."

"Yeah…that's fine, I guess."

"Have a good rest, Guardian."

Russell did enjoy his newly earned rest.

* * *

 **Short epilogue after this. So that's it, the end of this little-ish story.**


	26. Epilogue

There is a slow, booming clap. The sound barrier breaks every time palms strike.

" **This is rich.** " Savathûn laughs as she continues clapping, her body shaking every time she takes a breath. " **They honestly thought you were dead after that miserable attempt of an attack? Guardians never cease to amaze me.** "

The Witch-Queen reaches an arm out for Cassandra, who's still playing dead on the ground. Her sister doesn't react, which makes her slightly annoyed. She gives the woman a light kick to the side.

"Ow! Don't be so rough…" Cassandra mumbles as she rubs the attacked area, sitting up. "I am your sister after all."

Savathûn laughs again as she offers her hand out again, this time it gets taken and she pulls Cassandra up. " **Oh, you and I, we're gonna have some fun.** " She flicks her finger. " **What do you want to begin with? My daughter's about to find the Distributary, we can watch our troops decimate the Awoken.** "

"Not so fast." The sound of metal clinking against something, followed by dragging. "We aren't through, yet, _sis_." Cassandra says through gritted teeth.

The Witch-Queen turns around and faces the Warlock, who has her purple-black sword gripped tightly in her hand, the blade part glowing green. " **Of course, you'd be a fool. You killed your Worm, didn't you?** " Savathûn scoffs.

"Well, come at me, _bitch._ " Cassandra starts to charge forward.

" **I don't have time for this for such infantile conflicts.** " Savathûn chortles and flicks her fingers.

/

Russell has been out of action for a few weeks by now.

He tries to muster the willpower to participate in a fireteam doing anything really; Crucible, patrols, strikes, whatever. He never could find it, instead opting to stay in his room and go through countless sleepless nights.

Whenever he does manage to get some slumber, his nightmares bring him back screaming into reality.

Russell shuts his eyes and looks upwards as he slows his breathing down, in an attempt to ease his heart, which feels like its ripping his thoracic cage open with every beat. The woman to his side stirs.

"Right, sorry, sorry." He mumbles.

She was just a random Huntress that picked him up at a bar in the Tangled Shore.

"Are you like this all the time?" She snaps at him, her voice muffled by the pillow she's speaking into. "Christ, I can't even get a single minute of sleep!"

"You're free to leave, if you want." Russell says, under his breath. "I did warn you about this, though."

"You never specified that you would be full on yelling!" She says, turning her head and rubbing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, nothing I can do about it." He dryly laughs. "I think it would be best if you leave."

"Really? Just gonna kick me out like that?" She says, and the lights come on afterwards. "Christ, you're pathetic."

"Just get out, please." Russell seethes, lightly inching her off of his bed.

The Huntress packs her stuff and leaves through the front door.

"You know, she is right." He says, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning on the wall behind him. "I'm a mess."

Jingles materializes. "Quit your moping around, you need something to shoot."

"Firing range isn't cutting it." Russell groans out.

"Then don't go to the firing range." Jingles replies, then sighs. "You still…miss her?"

There is a moment of silence.

"Yeah."

Then a flash, and he's torn from the real plane of existence then put back in, except in a different spot. He attempts to reach the Ace of Spades that is normally on his nightstand beside his bed but discovers that he is not even in his own apartment anymore.

A soft hand wraps around the wrist that reached, and gently pulls it back so he's laying flat on his back.

"Hello there." An all-too-familiar voice says.

"No-" He struggles. "You're not real-"

"Yes, and no." She stops. "I am real."

"You're dead!"

"I'm not."

"Cassandra, _let me go this instant._ " Russell snarls out, and she lets go. "Thank you."

"So…is it story time?"

"No, don't even bother, just let me sleep."

Cassandra sighs, exasperated. "I teleported you here for a reason, and it's not for you to sleep in my bed _._ "

"Can't do anything about-" His lips are pinched by two fingers, and a weight is applied on his lower body. He looks up and Cassandra is straddling him, and once he's established eye contact, she lets his mouth free. "Oh. _Oh._ "

"Yes, now please, behave." She pauses for a moment. "I never really realized that I still have these human desires." She shrugs.

"Ah well, you're mine for the night." She adds, innocently.

/

 _Outskirts, EDZ_

Sombra yawns and stretches her arms. "Xiao, how long are we gonna be out here?" She asks, somewhat tiredly. "We've been here for forever."

Xiao rolls her eyes. "Quit complaining, the Saboteur's gonna show up any minute now…" She squints and peeks over a small hill that overlooked a long bridge that extended into Sojourne's Camp.

Sombra never really did figure out what the point of all this camping was, but she is getting quite a bit of Enhancement Cores from Xiao out of this. She wonders if it's just her mentor wanting to teach her some Hunter thing or if she wanted to _Traveler forbid_ , spend a bit of time with her student.

"Alright, you know the plan-"

"I smoke bomb it and mow it down with my Recluse?" Sombra fills in, readying her Crucible SMG.

"You need to get a kill with that to activate its perk, first of all." Xiao says. "And yeah, that's about it."

"Can we do some Competitive Crucible after this?"

Xiao groans. " _Fine._ "

Sombra checks her progress on the Revoker sniper rifle, and waits impatiently for Xiao to finish whatever she's doing right now.

/

 _Nessus, Exodus Black_

Lena Oxton fist bumps Crow, who continues the chain and fist bumps Hana Song, ending it with a small, voiced explosion. All three of them look at the collapsed body of Edgar Malcolm who has his bones turned in ways that were quite unnatural and most likely very painful.

"You think we were a bit too rough on him?" Hana asks.

"Nah, he gets that for throwing a Gambit match after not getting first invade."

"Throwing a _what_ match?"

"Don't worry about it."

"And he calls _me_ a child?"

Hana stomps a few times with her mech, making the body lowly hop from the ground, which makes her giggle.

Bastion stumbles out of the Exodus Black, twirling his head and beeping nonsense.

"What are you up to, Bastion?" Crow asks, turning to the Omnic. Bastion fixes him a stare, and tilts his head.

"I don't understand your query, who is Bastion?" Failsafe's cheery voice comes from the robot's voicebox.

There is a low record scratch. "This feels...weird."

The Titan falls to his knees, looks up and throws his arms in the air.

"Whoa, I have guns? Big ones at that!" Failsafe's evil side says, before the AI, in its new enclosure, dashes off somewhere.

/

Russell sleeps in bed with Cassandra, who caresses him close and is definitely intent on net letting him go. He sighs and attempts to rationalize all this.

 _She's supposed to be dead, but she isn't._ He thinks, and runs his fingers in between her hair, which had gotten quite a bit longer than he remembered.

"Russell, I know you're confused about how I'm still alive, considering you shot me three times in the back of the head." She yawns, and lets him go. She sighs, and her eyes flicker away from looking at his. "I really can't explain this whole thing, but all that matters is that I get to see you at least once a month."

He wraps an arm around her shoulder, and presses his nose to her skin. "God, you smell amazing."

"Well, I am in my own universe. Reality can be whatever I want here." The bed under them changes material, this time feeling a lot more springy than the foam mattress.

"Ascendant Realm?"

"Sure, if you want to call it that." Cassandra has a small smile on her face, which turns sad a second later. "It's time for you to go now."

"Damn, I'll see you in a month?"

"I'll see you in a month."

A flash, and Russell is in his bed again.

He starts counting down the days.

* * *

 **And that is the final end of this. I hope you, the reader, enjoyed it. I'm working on other stuff, some of it is on AO3 (same name), although it is mostly shameless NSFW stuff.**

 **Anyways, peace, and may you grow fat from strength.**


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